Kami's gift: A second chance
by Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara
Summary: After 20 years of a brutal and savage war the hidden leaf village has finaly fallen. As Sakura Namikaze meets her end she resives an unexpected gift from an unexpected being.First story ever.SakuraXNarutoXHinata but Hinata not untill shippuden.
1. Chapter 1

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Bijju/summon**

Welcome to my first story ever, I hope you will like it.

**Chapter One**

It was a dark and frigid night, this night was like no other before it; it felt as if the shadows of evil had engulfed the world. Deep within the darkness there were faint lights but these lights were not lights of hope, the lights seen in the distance were fueled by the fires of war.

The village Hidden in the Leaves had at one time been the most powerful ninja village in the entire shinobi world. After 20 constant years of a brutal and savage war this once mighty village had finally fallen this night. Slowly, small droplets of rain fell. The entire village was now ablaze and no amount of rain could save it. The bodies of invaders and defenders alike littered the streets and the rain that washed down the streets flowed red like rivers of blood.

In the middle of this battlefield an injured and exhausted Sakura Namikaze was on her knees panting. The smells of smoke and blood filled her lungs; last surviving member of the Neo Sannin was in a very bad spot. Her left arm was gone; Sakura had to cut it off to save herself from being completely consumed by the black flames of Madara's Amaterasu. This was the end and she knew it, all she could hope for was that they bought the children enough time to get the people safely out of the village. When it became apparent that the village would fall she ordered her 15 year old daughter Kushina to lead her younger brother and the few surviving children of the Konoha 11(I'm not counting the Uchiha bastard) and other remaining bystanders away from the battle. They fought with everything they had; but even the last three members of the famous Konoha 11 were no match for Madara Uchiha.

Madara was getting closer, walking slowly towards her while savoring his victory. It had taken him a lot longer than he had hoped to get to this point and it was all because of that dammed Namikaze. Madara wished he could have been the one to kill him for ruining his moon's eye plan but the bastard had robbed him of the pleasure by killing himself. He was going to get some payback at him by killing his precious wife, then he would hunt down the Namikaze's wretched offspring and his revenge would be complete at last.

Sakura felt the rain drops as they fell on her face. She looked up at the night sky and to her it looked as if the heavens themselves were weeping. The Hidden Leaf Village had been the last haven from Madara's control, the last place people could at look for hope. Over the last 20 years, one by one, all of the ninja villages, great and small, had fallen to the endless hordes of the former Akatsuki leader. Now with the Hidden Leaf gone he truly had conquered the entire world. Soon the people's spirit would be broken. Without someone to inspire hope, all was lost.

'_If only you were still here my love'_ she thought. He wasn't here though; he had given his life to stop Madara from ever using the tailed beast for his moon's eye plan. For ten long years she and the others had fought to protect the village he gave his life for and now it was lost. She was alone and there was no one to help her now. She looked at her friends, the last two members of the Konoha 11 that survived the war with her up to now. Hinata was lying in a puddle of her own blood with a fist size hole through her chest. Hinata had become like a sister to Sakura, especially after Naruto's death. Hinata was the only that had understood how she felt and that had made them connect and become like family, now she was gone. She then looked at Shikamaru… or what was left of him. Shikamaru had pushed her out of the way but had taken the full blast of Madara's Amaterasu; now all that was left of him was a pile of charred bone covered in black flames.

Madara was right in front of her now, she knew this was it. She could not move, his next attack was going to finish her. She heard him scream "**Amaterasu".**

Black flames shot at her, Sakura closed her eyes and waited for the end to come, Sakura's only thought was "_Naruto, I'm sorry"._She waited for what seemed like an eternity for the pain to claim her but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and could not believe what she saw, the wall of black flames was frozen mere inches from her face. She looked around and saw that everything was frozen. She could even see the rain drops frozen in mid fall.

"_What's going on?"_she thought to herself. As if to answer her though,t a blinding light appeared and consumed everything around her. Everything else had disappeared from her sight, all she could see was endless light and she wondered if she had died and this was the afterlife. Then a warm voice spoke her name.

"**Sakura Namikaze".**

Sakura was surprisingly not afraid the voice was kind and gentle so she asked "_who are you? And where in the world am I?"_

The voice then spoke. **"I am known by many names by many beings, in many different places. In your world I am known as Kami**"

Sakura's eyes went wide in shock; she could not believe what she just heard. Before she could say anything Kami spoke again. "**As to where you are, you are in my realm, a place between worlds. From this place I have watched your world since its creation. I have watched your people evolve in to what they are now and my heart weeps to see what you have become**" Sakura's only answer was silence so Kami continued. "**You had such potential to become great, yet you have engulfed your entire world in war. You have become a primitive and violent race that only knows how to hurt and kill each other; you bring nothing but pain and suffering to your world.**"

Sakura finally spoke "not all of us are like that. There are those of us that only want to live in peace. We only fight to protect what we love."

Kami spoke again in its warm voice"**I know the difference between you and the ones you fight but your fight is hopeless. The darkness that has grasped your world is too strong, you cannot win**"

Sakura knew that Kami spoke the truth but it still brought tears to her eyes. "_If only he was still here things would be different"_ she thought as tears ran down her face. "If Naruto was still here he would have stopped him" she said.

"**One person would not have made a difference**". Kami's voice had warm and gentle tone but its words hurt Sakura all the same.

"He would have made a difference, I know it," she really did believe her words. Sakura knew that Naruto had a gift for making the impossible become possible.

"**You truly believe that had he not perished things would be different?**" asked Kami's voice.

"Yes I do, if he was here, he would have found a way to save everyone". There was a pause as if Kami was thinking about was she had said before kami's voice was heard again.

"**I see; you truly believe what you say... Very well then, we shall see which one of us is correct. I will give you a gift, a chance to save your world. Remember you only get one chance, fail and your world shall fall into everlasting darkness**". As Kami finished speaking Sakura felt the warm light close in around her and slowly take her in to a peaceful sleep.

**XxX**

Well that's chapter one for you please let me know what you think. I would like to mention that I was inspired to write this story after reading **timeless bonds**by captain of the sea spirit. This story may have similar situations but this is **NOT**a remake, my story will take a different direction that I hope you will like. Please write and review and let me know what you all think, I would really appreciate it.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto or anything else

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

**Bijju/summon**

First I would like to thank everyone that took the time to read my story and especially those that took the time to review or send me a PM.I have read them and will do my best to take the advice that was given. I already went back and re-loaded the first chapter so hopefully the spelling errors will be minimal. I would like to say that English is not my first language so my grammar may not be the best sometimes so please bear with me.

Anyway here is the next chapter. Enjoy.

XxX

**Chapter 2**

"Where am I?" Sakura asked herself as she woke from sleep. As a light hit her eyes she realized that she was on a bed. "Why do I have covers on me? And how did I get here?" As she used her hands to try and get the sleep from her eyes she notices something. She had both her hands! That woke her up in a hurry. She looked down and was expecting to see a hospital bed but the bed she was in was no hospital bed. Sakura was lying in bed with pink sheets and covers, even the pillow cases were pink. She began to look at the room she was in. Sakura's eyes grew wide. She recognized the room she was in; it was her room, her room from all those years ago.

"_Is this a dream?" _she thought to herself. She began to remember everything that had happened. The fall of the leaf, her meeting with Kami; she remembered everything that happened. She had a chance, a chance not only to change her past but a chance to save her future. Sakura quickly got out of bed and did the first thing that most women would do. She looked at herself in the mirror. "I don't believe this! I'm really back!" she said happily. Of course she then got a good look at herself and got a disgusted look on her face. "I'm back as a freaking child!" She said in an annoyed sounding voice. It wasn't hard to tell what age she was but she looked at her calendar to make sure. Sure enough she was 12, and today was the day of team selections.

Sakura began to look for something to cut her hair with. "_I have to look good for him_" she thought with a smile.

"Sakura if you don't hurry you're going to be late to the academy" yelled a voice from down stairs. Sakura froze when she heard her mother's voice, try desperately to stop the tears of happiness from falling.

"Easy Sakura, you can't break into tears every time you see someone." She said to herself. After dressing herself and saying goodbye to her mother she headed out the door.

"Hey billboard brow". Sakura froze again, this time with her eyebrow twitching in anger. She knew there was only one person that ever called her that. She turned to see her blond childhood friend Ino Yamanaka catching up to her. "Come on, were going to be late" Ino said as she ran up to join Sakura.

"Shut up Ino-pig" Growled Sakura as she began to walk faster towards the academy.

"What did you say forehead?" she screamed hastening her past her.

"You heard me piggy" she said with a smile on her face. "_I forgot how much fun this was" _she thought to herself as they began to race to the academy.

XxX

"Ha! I beat you" they both screamed at the same time as they forced their way into the class.

"No way, I was here first forehead" Ino said.

"Please, I had to look back to see you piggy" said Sakura. They began to argue as they walked to their seats. That's when she saw him; it was Sasuke Uchiha the future traitor. Sakura clenched her teeth and closed her fist in anger, just seeing that bastard made her blood boil. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "_No this isn't the same Sasuke; if I can save him too it would make everyone's lives easier" _She told herself. Sakura walked towards him and took the seat next to him; she smiled at him and said "hello Sasuke, how are you doing today?" All she got in return was a grunt as he turned away from her with an annoyed look on his face. Her eyebrow twitched again but before she could yell at him Ino spoke.

"What do you think you're doing forehead? I'm seating next to Sasuke. Everyone saw me come in before you, so get off my seat." Before Sakura could respond the other girls began to fight for the seat. It was then that she noticed an orange blur go passed her.

It was him! He was crouching in front of Sasuke while they both glared at each other. She could not believe it was really him. He was wearing that God-awful orange monstrosity. Sakura remembered she had to threaten to divorces him if he didn't stop wearing so much orange. She was busy smiling at the memories when something happened to snap her out of it. The boy sitting in front of Naruto bumped him causing him to go forward and next thing she knew Naruto and Sasuke's lips were touching. All of a sudden the room was filled killer intent courtesy of all the girls in the room except for Sakura and Hinata.

"Naruto! We are going to kill you!" screamed the Uchiha fan-girls in unison. Before they could begin their attack Sakura jumped in front of them and said

"Hey it was an accident." This caused several eyebrows to go up. Many were sure Sakura would be leading the attack. Ino was about to argue with Sakura but Iruka sensei came in at that time and told everyone to take a seat.

After a brief speech about what they should expect as Gennin he began to name the people into teams until he finally got to team seven. "Team seven will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno." This was followed by Naruto jumping up happily as he began to cheer wile Sakura giggled at his antics. Iruka then continued "and Sasuke Uchiha." Which was followed by a loud thumping noise as Sasuke bashed his head repeatedly onto his desk and loud angry yells from many of the girls, especially Ino. Suddenly Naruto stood up.

"Ahhh Iruka sensei! Why does a great ninja like me, have to be in a team with a slug like Sasuke?" complained Naruto.

"Because Naruto, Sasuke was the student with the best grades, while you were the student with the worst grades. You were put together to balance the teams out". Said Iruka, which got most of the class laughing at Naruto's expense.

"Just don't get in my way loser" when Sasuke said this Naruto was pissed.

"What you say Sasuke" yelled Naruto.

"What hard of hearing too?" asked the Uchiha but before Naruto could respond Sakura told them both to stop. After that the rest of the teams were named and were told that they would be meeting their sensei soon. Sakura of course knew better, she knew that Kakashi would not show up for another 2 hours at least.

XxX

Two hours later only team seven was sitting in the classroom still waiting for their sensei. Sakura was reading a book on medical Jutsu she got from the library while Sasuke was just staring out the window. Naruto had enough of waiting so he decided to get a little payback on their sensei. After setting his trap Naruto went back to sitting but with a smile on his face. Not long afterwards Kakashi finally poked his head in the class getting hit with the eraser in the picked up the eraser and looked at his new team before saying "hum how should I say this? My first impression of you is… You're a bunch of idiots" he said in a bored tone. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes" he said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Team seven got up and went to meet him on the roof.

Once on the roof they all took a seat and Kakashi spoke to them once more. "Ok to start how about you introduce yourselves".

Sakura then asked. "Introduce ourselves?

"Yes, things you like, things you hate, your dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that," answered Kakashi in a bored tone.

"Why don't you go first sensei?" asked a smiling Sakura.

"Introduce myself? Ok. My name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate, I don't feel like telling you that. Dreams for the future…I never really thought about that. I have lots of hobbies". Naruto and Sasuke sweat-dropped at the useless information, Sakura smiled at her sensei's answer." Ok now how about you on the left, you go". He said pointing at Naruto.

Naruto stood up exited. "Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku ramen shop. I hate the three minutes you have to wait for the ramen to be ready. My hobbies are eating different types of ramen and compering them. And my future dream is…. To be the greatest Hokage. So people will stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody, somebody important." He said throwing his hands in the air excitedly. Sakura smiled fondly at her future husband but was snapped out of her daydream by Kakashi when he said.

"Ok now it's your turn pinky".

Sakura's eyebrow twitched in anger. "_I hate it when people call me that_" she thought. She then put on a smile (one that said if you call me that again I'm going to kill you!) which caused Kakashi to get the weird feeling that his life was suddenly in danger. "My name is Sakura Nam….Haruno". She had almost used her future last name. _"Wow that was close; I have to remember that I'm not a Namikaze…Yet_". She then continued her introduction." I like" she said blushing but not looking at anyone." Things I hate are traitors!" she said looking in the Uchiha's direction." And perverts" she said looking at Kakashi who was whistling innocently not looking at her." And people who judge other for something out of there control." She said the last part with a sad tone in her voice. Kakashi and Naruto both thought it was a strange thing for her to say but said nothing. "And my dream is to be the world's best medic ninja even greater than Tsunade of the Sannin". "_And to save my home and family especially my husband". _She thought with determination.

"_A medic Nin huh? There was nothing in her files about her aspiring to be a medic,_" thought Kakashi before he said "ok now you the emo kid". That got Naruto and Sakura laughing, and Sasuke giving Kakashi a death-glare.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and don't really like anything" he said.

"_What did I ever see in that idiot anyway?_" thought Sakura.

"What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality, to kill a certain man and restore my clan."

Kakashi sighed and thought _"GREAT! I have a hyperactive knucklehead with sensei's addiction to ramen, an emo that only thinks of revenge, and a girl with an anger management problem, At least she's not a fan-girl._" Kakashi stood up and told them about their test the following day much to the surprise of Naruto and Sasuke.

After Kakashi disappeared Sakura said "Ok I'll see you guys tomorrow then" as she quickly left the roof. Sasuke left without saying a word and Naruto followed upset he didn't get a chance to ask Sakura on a date so he decided to get some Ichiraku ramen to make himself feel better.

XxX

Several hours later Sakura was in a training ground on her hands and knees. "Crap! I remember all my Jutsu but there all useless because my chakra reserves are none existent. And I have to be careful what Jutsu I use to not bring too much attention to myself." Sakura knew she had to get stronger fast, if she was going to change things. Sakura got up and headed home, she had a test to get ready for after all. She smiled to herself, she had a plan and she was sure that Kakashi was in for a big surprise.

XxX

Ok that's it for chapter number 2. Please review and let me know what you think. I look forward to hearing what you guys like or dislike about it. So till next time see ya!

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/summon**"

I would like to thank everyone for the support for my story and say I'm glad you like the story so far. Ok with that said here's the next chap.

**XxX**

**Chapter Three**

The following morning Sakura was walking calmly to training ground seven, she was caring some lunch boxes that she had made for her team knowing Kakashi's plan for the test. When she got there Naruto and Sasuke were already there.

"Hey Sakura, your late! Kakashi sensei said to be here an hour ago" Naruto said rather loudly.

"Well sensei is not here yet so it's fine right? Besides I was late because I was making these boxed meals for us" she said holding the boxes up for him to see. "I thought we could eat together before the test" she said smiling.

"But I thought sensei said that we shouldn't eat because well puke" asked a clueless Naruto. Sakura was not clueless to Kakashi's plan and she knew exactly how to get Naruto to do what she wanted.

"But Naruto, I made this one just for you" she said in a cute voice while holding up one of the boxes and giving Naruto the feared **puppy-eyes Jutsu.**As if to voice its own opinion, Naruto's stomach made a loud growling noise.

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt" he said taking the box. "Besides an awesome ninja like me wont puke from whatever test sensei gives us". Sakura then looked at Sasuke and said.

"I made one for you too do you want it?" All she got was a grunt from him before he continued to ignore the both of them. After they had finished their meals Sakura was sitting next to Naruto and desisted to put her plan into action. "Hey Naruto do you want to work together to pass this test? Were a team now so we should always work together right?" Naruto could not believe what he was hearing Sakura wanted to work with him and not stupid Sasuke. Sakura knew that Sasuke wouldn't work with them so she did not bother to ask him.

"Of course I will Sakura, believe it!" he yelled.

She smiled at him then asked "So any new moves I should know about?" she asked knowing the answer.

"Yeah I just learned a cool new jutsu called the **Shadow clone Jutsu,** it's really cool because it lets me make clones that are real, not illusions" he said proudly.

"Really? Well then I think I have a plan that will help us pass whatever test that Kakashi sensei has for us." She then began to tell him her plan so they were ready when Kakashi finally showed up an hour later.

"Yo!"Is all Kakashi said before he was interrupted?

"You're late" yelled Naruto and Sakura in unison.

"Well you see there was this black cat that crossed in front of me and I had to take the long way around".

"Liar" they both yelled again but he ignored them.

"Alright today you'll be taking a test to see if you are ready to become Gennin. The test is simple, all you have to do is take one of these bells from me before noon and you pass" he said pointing to the two bells tied to his waist. "If you can't get one before noon you don't get any lunch and you'll be tied to the post wile I eat my lunch." Sakura and Naruto smiled at each other which confused Kakashi and Sasuke just looked pissed while his stomach growled loudly. "After that you'll get an additional two hours and if you fail to get a bell then you get send back to the academy for another year" he said shocking everybody but Sakura.

"But Kakashi sensei, there's only two bells and there's three of us?" asked Sakura knowing the reason.

"Correct Sakura, that means that at least one of you will be going back to the academy. It also means that all of you can be sent back if none of you manage to get a bell."

"Well I'm not getting sent back to the academy because I'm going to be Hokage one day believe it! "Said Naruto proudly pointing at Kakashi.

"The loudest are often the weakest" said Kakashi which pissed Naruto off. Before anyone knew what happed Naruto charged at Kakashi with a kunai drawn only to have Kakashi appears behind him while pointing Naruto's own kunai at the back of Naruto's head, the kunai still in Naruto's hand. "Relax I didn't even say go yet. Remember if you want to get the bells you have to come at me with intent to kill or you won't stand a chance. With that being said, BEGIN! "He yelled and all of them disappeared into hiding. _"Mm it seems they know how to hide themselves "he_ thought. _"Well most of them anyway"_ he thought as Naruto stood in front of him with his arms across his chest.

"You and me right here right now, fair and square, let's go!" yelled a confident Naruto. Kakashi sweatdroped and said.

"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit weird."

Naruto looked pissed and said "the only weird thing here is your hair cut" as he charged at Kakashi.

Kakashi's hand went to grab something from his weapons pouch which made Naruto stop. Kakashi then said "shinobi battle techniques number one, Taijutsu, the physical art."

"_Taijutsu is hand to hand combat. Then why is he going for a weapon?_" thought Naruto who was surprised when Kakashi pulled out a little orange book and began to read it.

"What are you waiting for? Make your move" said Kakashi not looking at Naruto.

"Why are you reading that book?" asked a confused Naruto.

"Why? To find out what happens in the story of course. Don't let it bother you, with your weak attacks it doesn't matter if I'm reading or… whatever" he said in a board tone that really pissed Naruto off.

"Weak attacks? Ill crush you!" yelled Naruto as he engaged Kakashi in Taijutsu which Kakashi dominated with ease not looking up from his book once. By the end Kakashi was crouching behind Naruto making what appeared to be a tiger seal.

"You shouldn't let your enemies get behind you all the time" said Kakashi as he prepared for his attack.

"_Is he using a fire jutsu? Humph serves the loser right"_thought Sasuke from his hiding spot.

"Leaf style secret finger jutsu, **1000 years of death!**" screamed Kakashi as he poked his fingers up Naruto's butt expecting to cause pain and humiliation; however he was surprised when the Naruto in front of him despaired in a puff of smoke. "_A shadow clone?_ _I heard he used this jutsu to beat Mizuki but when did he make the switch? I didn't sense him use a replacement jutsu"._Kakashi didn't have time to figure out what happened because his thoughts were interrupted when a swirl of wind surrounded him. He noticed that it was full of what appeared to be cherry blossoms.

"Shinobi battle techniques number two, Genjutsu" Sakura's voice was heard. Her voice came seemly from nowhere in particular yet from everywhere at the same time. Kakashi's eyes widen in shock as he realized what was happening. He quickly placed his hands together and made a hand seal.

"Kai" he screamed releasing the Genjutsu. Immediately the illusion disappeared but poor Kakashi didn't know he was already too late and he was in for a world of hurt.

When the Genjutsu was dispelled Kakashi saw Sakura's fist coming at him already too close to avoid. "_Well they actually got a hit on me_" thought the poor fool actually more amused than worried. Then Sakura's fist connected with Kakashi's face sending him rocketing across the training field and landing in a crater. The last thoughts Kakashi had before he lost conciseness were "_How on earth?_" Naruto and Sakura quickly appeared next to the now knocked out Kakashi and each took a bell.

"Good job Naruto we did it" said a happy Sakura to which Naruto just smiled, but what he was thinking was "I _better not piss off Sakura or she could really kill me if she hits me that hard"._ Their happiness didn't last very long because then, a very pissed off Sasuke landed next to them.

"Give me that bell loser, I'm an Uchiha and I deserve it more than a talentless loser like you. I'm not going back to the academy, so give it!" he screamed at Naruto. Naruto just looked at Sakura who only smiled at him. _"OH this is going to be fun_" was all that Sakura was thinking.

**XxX**

Kakashi woke up confused and with a throbbing headache."_Uuug I feel like I have a bigger hangover than when I had a drinking contest with Anko"_he thought_._

"Nice of you to wake up sensei" said Sakura gleefully. It was then that Kakashi realized where he was, and that he was tied to the post with Sakura and Naruto sitting in front of him eating HIS lunch. He noticed that someone was missing.

"So where's Sasuke?" he asked.

"Look to your left" said a smirking Naruto. Kakashi did as asked and was confronted with a very amusing site. Tide to the post next to his was a VERY PISSED OFF Sasuke, bound and gagged with a paper crown on his head. The words EMO KING written on it. Kakashi although he could never admit it out loud, thought it was very funny and had it not been for his many years as a shinobi, would have burst out laughing.

"Um ok. Can you let me go now?" Without saying a word Sakura went up to Kakashi and reached for his mask.

"Wait there's something I want to see first" she said as she pulled down his mask. "So that's what you look like without your mask? You know sensei if you stopped reading porn in public you might actually find yourself a girlfriend" she said in an amused voice as she began to untie him.

"What did you expect? that I had buck teeth or something?" he said choosing to ignore the jab at his love life and his favorite pastime.

Once Kakashi was freed from the post he went to untie Sasuke, as he started to he asked them.

"So why is Sasuke tied up?" While still smirking Naruto answered him.

"Oh the bastard tried to take my bell".

Kakashi frowned under his mask when he heard that, but said nothing. When he was finished untying the very pissed off Uchiha he asked him.

"So Sasuke, how did Naruto beat you?" that got a chuckle from the other members of team seven while for Sasuke it was like throwing salt in a fresh wound.

"He didn't, Sakura trapped ME! In a Genjutsu" he growled through gritted teeth.

"_Interesting,_" thought Kakashi.

"So which one of you wants to tell me the purpose of this test" he asked.

"That's easy. Its teamwork, there's no way that any of us could get a bell from you without using teamwork" said Sakura while Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Good then both of you pass" he said pointing at Naruto and Sakura". "And you fail" he said pointing at Sasuke. _"Now let's see what they do"_ thought Kakashi hoping they would pass this final part of the test.

"What? Sakura just said that it's all about teamwork! Sasuke may be an arrogant asshole but he's still part of this team" said Naruto which made Sakura smile proudly.

"That's right we won't abandon our comrades. It's all of us or none of us" she said which made Kakashi smile widely under his mask, he could not have asked for a better team.

"Well then I have only one thing to say to you… You Pass!" he said proudly causing Naruto to start jumping and yelling happily while Sakura laughed at his antics." Remember one thing above anything else I ever teach you. Those that break the rules are trash but those that abandon their friends are worse than trash" said Kakashi getting approving looks from Naruto and Sakura while Sasuke obviously thought Kakashi was a fool for thinking that. "I'll report you're passing to the Hokage and remember to meet me here tomorrow morning for our first team mission" he said as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Sasuke just glared at his teammates before he grumbled and walked off leaving Naruto and Sakura alone.

Naruto looked nervously at Sakura. This was probably his best chance so he decided to ask her. "Hey Sakura, you want to do something with me later?" he asked nervously hoping she would finally say yes.

"Sure, meet me here in a couple of hours and we can train together" she said with a smile.

"But Sakura, I meant like go on a date" wined Naruto. Sakura desperately wanted to say yes. She had wasted most of her previous life chasing after that traitor for nothing. When she finally realized that Naruto was the true love of her life she only had him for a few short years before she lost him. Sakura had no intention of losing a single minute with him this time, but she knew she could not make it too easy on him either.

"Hmm maybe" she said lifting his hopes. "How about I make you a deal? If you can go through the entire training I have planned. I will go on a date with you" she said.

"YES!" he screamed at the heavens at the top of his lungs. "I can handle anything you got Sakura believe it!" he said happily as he left before she changed her mind.

"_Oh we'll see about that Naruto. When I'm done you won't be able to move a finger"_ she thought as she saw him walk away. She then giggled at her plan as she made her way home.

**XxX**

At the Hokage tower the third Hokage was sitting in his desk working on his paperwork when Kakashi showed up. "Lord Hokage there's something I would like to speak to you about" said the one eyed Jonin. The Hokage looked up from his paperwork and noticed he wasn't reading his book and had a serious look in his visible eye. _"That's never a good sing"_ thought the third.

"Is this about Naruto's team?" he asked. Kakashi nodded and said.

"Yes they passed but that's not what I want to talk about" said Kakashi". "I was wondering about Sakura Haruno". The Hokage gave him a confused look so Kakashi continued. "I read the files on all three of my students and thought I knew what to expect, however Sakura was nothing like what I expected". Kakashi saw the third was still confused so he explained. "Everything in her file pointed towards her being very smart but lacking in everything else. Also several of the instructors at the academy made notes of her obsession with Sasuke Uchiha". The Hokage nodded.

"Yes, Iruka mentioned it when I gave him the team list. So was she a problem?" asked the third thinking that Kakashi wanted the girl of his team.

"No, she and Naruto had perfect teamwork but that wasn't what surprised me. She managed to place me in a powerful Genjutsu in a matter of seconds" said Kakashi. This truly surprised the Hokage. Genjutsu required advance chakra control to be effective. For a mere Gennin to place a powerful Genjutsu on a Jonin was something he heard of only once. Kurenai found a peeping tom looking at the girl side of the hot springs (surprisingly it wasn't Jiraya that time)and placed him in a Genjutsu that made every woman he saw appear as an overweight naked men.

"How strong would you rank the jutsu" asked the Hokage? Kakashi thought about it before he answered.

"I would say it was B ranked at least, maybe pushing A rank, but Genjutsu isn't my specialty. Kurenai would know how to rank it better than me."

"My, that is impressive" said the third.

"That's not all. When I dispelled the jutsu she punched me ONCE, and sends me flying across the training ground. I was sure I felt my Jaw brake, and at least had some bruised ribs, but when I woke up all my injures were healed" said Kakashi.

"_That makes her sound like Tsunade"_thought the Hokage.

"That's not it either, when I woke up, Sasuke was tied to the pole next to me. He tried to take Naruto's bell and Sakura put him in a Genjutsu to defend Naruto, which if you go by their files she would never do. I honestly expected a fan girl not a miniature Tsunade" Said Kakashi getting a chuckle from the Hokage.

"Well that all sounds interesting but I don't think there's anything to worry about. Just keep me informed and well see how it goes" said the Hokage in an amused voice.

"_That's easy for you to say, you're not the one that got punched in the face"_ thought Kakashi to himself. "Yes lord Hokage" he said then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

The Hokage stood up from his desk and went to look out the window. "_Looks like your team will be one to keep an eye out for Naruto"_thought the Hokage with a smile on his face, as he looked out at his village.

**XxX**

Well that's chapter three. Wow I got this sooner than I thought. Oh well please review and let me know what you think. I enjoy reading all the reviews and pms, so don't worry about bothering me with them. So till next time see yah!

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone first like always I want to thank all of you for supporting my story. With that being said I would like to address a PM I received. Normally I answer the Pm's directly but this one I felt I should answer here. The pm in question was the first complain that wasn't about my spelling or grammar or even about how I should not "FORCE" Hinata in the paring(I actually got a few of those so there nothing new).This was about how I was "BASHING" Sasuke? Have you actually read some of the other stories in here? Anyway if it really bothers someone that much I suggest you don't read my story because I will make fun of Sasuke if I feel like it. Alright now let's get on with the story.

**XxX**

**Chapter Four**

Sakura arrived at the training ground to see a very exited looking Naruto waiting for her. "Hey Sakura" he yelled before getting a good look at her. "Wow Sakura you cut your hair! You look even prettier than before" he said with a small blush on his face. Sakura had cut her hair to the same size that she wore it after the first Chunin exams of her first life. She liked her hair long but long hair is not always the best choice for a ninja, so until she had most of her strength back she was keeping it short.

"Thank you Naruto, I'm glad you like it" she said with a blush of her own. "Now are you ready to train?" she asked with a smile.

"You bet Sakura, give me anything you got because you're going on that date with me, believe it!" he said confident that he could take any training she could come up with. Sakura only smiled more and took of her pack and began to remove some items from it. First she pulled out what looked like two pairs of pink sweat-bands and set them down next to her. Then she pulled out a pair of leg guards and a pair of arm bracers and tossed them at Naruto.

"Here take these" she said to him. Naruto cached them and began to look at them curiously.

"What are these?" he asked pointing to the several markings that had been drawn on the items he was given.

"Don't worry, I'll explain just put them on for now" she said as she put on her sweat-bands. Sakura placed one sweat-band on each of her wrists and one on each of her legs above her ankles so they were covered up by her ninja sandals. Naruto place his on his shins and forearms but you could not see them because they were all under his orange jumpsuit.

"Ok, so why do I have to were these things?" he asked again.

"Well for one thing, I thought you could use some extra armor now that we are full fledge ninja" she said.

"Why?" he asked again like a little kid. Sakura's eyebrow twitched a little because she was getting annoyed.

"Just forget that for now ok. You remember that all the items I gave you had markings correct?" she asked him. Naruto nodded, he had noticed all the strange markings on them. "The markings on these" she said pulling her hand close to his face so he could see that her sweat-bands had markings as well. "The marks on these are seals like on explosive tags" she said but was interrupted.

"What! You mean these things are going to blow up" he screamed as he franticly tried to take them off.

That was it "NA-RU-TO" she said as she cracked her knuckles which got his attention quickly, he remembered what she did to Kakashi and was not looking forward to getting hit on the head. "Let me finish before you start to freak out, ok" she said in a fake sweet voice. Naruto just nodded afraid to piss her off even more.

"I said they are like explosive tags, BUT they have different functions, so they are NOT going to blow up ok" she said getting a sigh or relive from Naruto. "The seals on these have two different functions while the ones you have, have three different functions." She said and saw he was going to interrupt her so she cut him off. "I will tell you what they are" she said and he stayed quiet. "Both yours and mine have chakra storage seals on them which means you can store chakra into them that you can use for later. That may not seem too useful to a stamina freak like you but for someone like me with a small chakra supply its very use full" she said. Naruto did not really get it but he decided to stay quite. "The second function is a set of weight seals that works in coordination with the first. The more chakra you store the more the seals make them weigh. That way you get more out of your physical training, and I added some protection seals to your so they can guard against weapons that normal leg-guards and arm-bracers could not" she said proudly.

"But why can't I get small things like yours? Why are mine these big things?" wined Naruto.

"Because I'm not the one with a tendency to rush at an enemy without thinking and getting myself hurt" she said in an irritated tone. Naruto pouted but knew she was right so he said nothing. "I just don't want you to get hurt ok Naruto. Just were them, for me ok? I put a lot of work to make them for you" she said in a caring tone.

Naruto beamed at her "sure thing Sakura" he said. "Wait did you say YOU made these?" he asked pulling back his sleeve and getting a good look at the intricate designs painted on the guards. "Wow that's amazing I didn't know you could do that. I guess you really are the smartest one of our class" he said missing her blush at his praise. "_Well being married to one of the greatest seal masters of all time for a few years does have its advantages"_ she thought to herself.

"Actually Naruto I think Shikamaru is the smartest one of us, he's just too lazy to show it right now" she said to him. Naruto didn't look convinced but didn't argue with her. "Ok let's get started. First focus some chakra into the seals to add weight to them" she said and did just that making the seals glow briefly before going back to normal. "Be careful not to go overboard because you won't be able to release the chakra without the correct hand-signs, which I won't give you till after our training session is over" she warned him. Naruto was too excited to try it out so of course when he did it, the seals began to glow furiously for a longer time before they went back to normal leaving an uncomfortable looking Naruto. Sakura just shook her head and smiled, this was Naruto after all and he would not be himself if he didn't put everything he had into what he was doing.

"Ok so what now Sakura?" he asked.

"How many shadow clones can you make?" she asked him. Naruto thought about it before he answered.

"Well if I really try I can make maybe 100." She smiled.

"Ok, make as many as you can then". Naruto did as asked and soon after that Sakura was looking at a small army of orange clad clones. "Ok Naruto" she said pointing at the real one. "I want you to start running laps around the training ground, I'll join you in a bit" she said to him. Naruto just shrugged and did as he was told. Sakura then turned to the clone army. "I want ten of you to start reading these books and scrolls I brought and the rest of you split into two groups" she said in a commanding voice, the clones did as were told. "Ok group one will work on the leaf exercise" she said then explained that the exercise to improve chakra control by holding a leaf on your forehead with only chakra. Once the first group was started she turned to the second. "Group two will be working on tree climbing" she said then explained that the exercise was done by using only your chakra to walk up the tree. Once both groups were up and running she joined Naruto for an intense workout.

Two hours later Naruto looked like he was ready to drop dead and since Sakura was very tired herself she thought it was a good idea to call it a day. "Ok Naruto, I think we can stop for today. Go ahead and dispel your clones so we can get ready to go home" she said to the exhausted looking Naruto.

"Thank**Kami**" he said between breaths. Naruto then proceeded to dispel all of his clones which caused him to freeze. "What**was**that?" he said as he placed a hand on his head. The moment he dispelled his clones, a fountain of information flooded his head. It wasn't exactly painful but it was disorienting to get all that information at once, especially when you didn't know how you got it in the first place.

Sakura smiled "I see you finally notice why your shadow clones are so special" she said getting a confused look from him. "I read that shadow clones are able to pass on all knowledge and experience to the original when they are dispelled, it's the reason why they are used for spying and infiltration missions.

His face lit up "I had no idea but that's awesome" he yelled happily.

"Yes for someone like you who has ridiculous amount of chakra it can be very useful. But remember they can only pass on knowledge, you can use them to practice jutsu and chakra control exercises, but any physical training you have to do yourself" she said.

"That's ok, I like training but studying is boring, now I can do both" he said giving her a foxy grin that made her blush.

Sakura was so busy in her own thoughts that she didn't notice Naruto removing one of his arm-bracers and let it fall. Sakura was brought back to reality when she heard a crash and looked to see Naruto looking down at the small crater that his bracer had made.

"What the hell Naruto! How much chakra did you use?" She asked him.

Naruto shrugged "I don't know a lot I guess. I thought that if I put a lot and make them weigh more than I'll get stronger faster" he said which really pissed Sakura off. She had to fight the urge to hit him for being an idiot.

"That was stupid Naruto, you could really gotten hurt like that" she scolded." Why don't you try steadily increasing the amount of chakra you use but only once your body has adjusted to the amount you have set. That way you won't be risking killing yourself ok?" she said in a tone that made sure he knew it wasn't a request but an order that he better follow or else he was in for a world of hurt.

He gulped "yes mam" he said in a shaky voice. After that she showed him how to release the chakra stored up in the seals and both packed there things and got ready to leave.

"So uh Sakura since we finished training … Do you uh, want to go get ramen… You know like a d-date?" he asked nervously. He Knew bet or no bet he could get a hell no accompanied by a punch to the face for asking her that question. She looked at him and smiled.

"Well we did have a deal" she said putting her hand under her chin pretending to think about it. "OK, sure Naruto I would love to go on a date with you" she said with a smile.

Silence…"YAHOOOOO" he yelled jumping up and down in excitement.

Sakura giggled at him before saying "OK settle down. Go shower and change and meet me at my house in an hour and we'll go to Ichiraku's. Oh and since it's a date you're paying" she said but he wasn't paying attention, he was on his way home literally jumping for joy.

**XxX**

Naruto had showered and changed into another jumpsuit and was on his way to Sakura's house when he passed by a flower shop and thought it would be nice to get Sakura some flowers. Unfortunately for him the flower shop he happed to go in was the Yamanaka flower shop. And a certain blond kunoichi just happen to be attending the shop at this time.

Ino was at her parents flower shop bored out of her mind, she was thinking that she could be spending her time doing better things, like shopping or even better trying to get a date with Sasuke. She was brought out of her own little world when the bells when off letting her know that a costumer came in. She was about to welcome him when she noticed the person that came in was Naruto. "_No way, what's Naruto of all people doing here? Probably thinks if he gets Forehead some flowers she'll go out with him. Hey maybe I should help him a little? If I get really lucky maybe forehead will go out with him and leave Sasuke for me!"_ she thought excitedly as she walked towards him. "Hey Naruto, how's it going" she said trying to act friendly which really creped Naruto out.

"Oh hey Ino, I didn't know you worked here" he said nervously.

"Yeah my parents own the shop. So are you getting Sakura some flowers?" she asked which made him blush, but before he answered. "Of course you are. Anyway why don't you let me pick something for you ok?" she said. Naruto thought about it and figured that Ino would know what to get since she was a girl and Sakura's friend so he let her pick the flowers. A few minutes later Ino came back with an interesting looking bouquet of flowers. "Here you go Naruto she will love these" she said happily but Naruto wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure? They look weird to me." He said looking at the flowers.

"Look Naruto these are the flowers you want. See these" she said pointing to some red flowers. "These are red tulips they represent a declaration of love, and this one is a sunflower it represents adoration" she continued to describe the bouquet until he was convince and sent him on his way. "_Good luck Naruto. For both of us, maybe"_ she thought as he left the store.

**XxX**

When Naruto made it to Sakura's house she was waiting outside for him. She like him was wearing a clean version of the same red dress she wore earlier today." Hey Sakura, I'm not late am I?" he asked.

"No I just thought I should wait outside for you. Are those for me? She asked pointing to the flowers.

"Yeah I got these for you" he said handing them to her. Sakura only had to look at it once to know that Ino had to have made it; Ino had an interesting taste that couldn't be mistaken by any other.

"Thank you Naruto, there beautiful" she said and gave him a small hug. After she went back inside and placed the flowers in water, they left for Ichiraku's.

Naruto happily led Sakura to the small ramen stand and sat on his usual spot while Sakura took the seat next to him.

"Hey old man, Ayame," he said getting the attention of both ramen cooks; Teuchi smiled at the blond.

"Naruto! Glad to see you boy. I was getting worried because I haven't seen you all day. So how did you do on your test? Did you pass?" asked the ramen cook.

Naruto grinned at him "I passed of course, I'm one step closer to being Hokage, believe it!" he said punching his fist in the air causing all three people to smile at him.

"So who is your friend Naruto" asked Ayame. She had never seen Naruto come with anyone but Iruka or the Hokage before.

"This is Sakura. She is my new teammate I told you about". That made the cooks exchange a look between them, a look that Sakura didn't miss.

"My name is Sakura Haruno, it's nice to meet you" she said with a smile. "Naruto is always talking about how incredible your ramen is so I accepted his invitation to come" she said trying to be friendly. Teuchi returned her smile but Ayame did not look convinced.

"Yeah Naruto has mentioned you too" she said in a tone that made Sakura know that whatever he said it was nothing good. Ayame then turned around and went back to work. _"I forgot she is like Naruto's overprotective big sister"_ thought Sakura to herself.

"I want three bowls of pork ramen" ordered Naruto.

"And I will have one bowl of chicken ramen please" ordered Sakura for herself and Teuchi left to make their orders.

An hour and several bowls of ramen (for Naruto anyway) later Naruto and Sakura left the stand.

"So that's the famous Sakura that Naruto is always talking about huh? She seems like a nice girl. Don't you think so?" asked Teuchi to his frowning daughter.

"That's exactly why I'm worried. She is acting nothing like he said she was like. She may be up to something, and Naruto likes her too much to notice. What if she's planning to play round with his feelings just for fun?" she asked in a worried voice.

"I don't think that's the case Ayame. The way she looks at him is not the way you look at some you don't care about. It's the same way your mother used to look at me like" he said with a warm smile on his face. "When you look at them, I don't know, they just look right for each other. I think they'll be ok" he said as he went back to work.

"They better be, because if she hurts Naruto, she's going to be sorry" said Ayame as she stabbed the kitchen knife in the cutting board so hard it made her father jump. Then Ayame went back to work herself.

**XxX**

Naruto had asked Sakura if he could show her a special place which she had a good idea what it was, so she said ok. Sakura had been right about the place and now she was with Naruto standing at top of the Hokage Mountain. "This is my favorite place in the whole village. I come here when I want to be alone and think. Or just to the great view of the village" he said. It was dark so they could see the entire village with lights every ware, it was a beautiful sight.

"Yeah it's very beautiful up here" she said to him.

"So Sakura did you um, like our date?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah Naruto I did. It was very nice to spend time with you" she said. Naruto smiled happily at her answer.

"So since we went on a date does that mean that we are, you know um boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"_Last time I waited so long to be with you. I was a fool and made you wait till it was almost too late. It WILL be different this time. I will not let you do things alone, I will be always with you"_ she thought to herself before she answered him.

"Let me ask you something before I answer you" she said. "I need someone that will treat me with love and respect" as she placed her hands over her heart. "Someone that I can trust with my life and my heart, can you that person for me? Can you be strong, brave, and loving for me?" she asked as she looked in to the cerulean blue eyes of the person she loved. Naruto looked in to her beautiful emerald green eyes and said.

"I swear Sakura, if you let me be your boyfriend; I will be all those things for you." Sakura smiled at him.

"Do you promise? Will you be with me always? Do you promise that you will never leave me alone?" she said as she fought the tears that threaten to fall.

"I promise Sakura, I will never leave you alone. I will be with you always no matter what, and that's a promise of a life time. I never go back on my word, believe it!" he said as he took hold of her hands. "_And I will make sure you keep that promise my love"_ she thought as she freed her hand and used it to take hold of his face. Sakura leaned forward and took hold of his lips with her own. Naruto tensed in shock at first but then returned her kiss. At that moment a single tear of happiness fell down Sakura's cheek. After a short while she released their tender embrace.

"Well I guess that's a yes huh?" he said as he scratched the back of his head. She smiled and nodded.

"Let's go home now, we have a mission tomorrow. And don't forget to wear your weights under your clothes during training and missions but don't go overboard with the amount of chakra you put in them" she said to him.

"I won't" he said as they both started to head home. As they were leaving Sakura turned back to look at the village once more. "_No matter what I won't let you kill yourself for us this time, and that's my promise of a lifetime"_ she thought as she left for home to get some rest.

**XxX**

Well that's it for chapter four and my first shot at romance.

Now I would like to say a few things. First I don't know anything about flowers so sorry if that made no sense I got the meanings from a flower website and have no idea what the flowers would look like together (probably crappie)

Second Sakura is not a seal master BUT the Naruto of her future was and since she was married to him for some time I think she is smart enough that she would learn a thing or two. She won't be busting seals left and right but don't be surprised if she shows extensive knowledge of certain seals every now and then.

Third Naruto won't be godly strong if that's what you're thinking. Sakura is only teaching him some chakra control and things that he should have learned at the academy. She can't be teaching him powerful jutsu because she will draw unwanted attention. Naruto however will be stronger then he was in the canon though.

Finally for those that think that Sakura and Naruto got together too fast I want to say a couple of things. First Sakura was married to Naruto and had him die on her so now that she has him back I don't think that she would want to wait years or months to be with him again. And as for Naruto he has liked her forever at this point so I'm sure he would jump at the chance to be her boyfriend first chance he got.

Anyway that's all I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will be leaving the state this weekend to be with my family for Thanksgiving so I will probably wait till the week after that to get the next chapter out. Thanks again for all the support and happy Thanksgiving to everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone! I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction to the last chapter. I expected a lot of people to be upset that I chose to get Sakura and Naruto together so quickly but the vast majority either agreed with my decision or at least understood why I did it so thanks for that.

I also would like to say that I have decided to take the advice of some of my fellow writers in how to write the story to make it a little easier to read. I am very new to the whole writing thing so I appreciate all the help and advice I get from everyone. Please don't think that I get upset if you tell me I'm doing something wrong because I don't, I read every review and pm and try to take all the help I get to make my story better for everyone so keep the pointers coming.

I would also like to say that A LOT of people have been bugging me about when Hinata is showing up. I did not plan on having her make an appearance for a few more chapters but I decided to throw all the Hinata fans (witch I'm one of) a bone and have her make a small appearance in this chapter.

Anyways let me know if you think the story is easier to read or not? If I did something wrong let me know because I really appreciate all the help. Thanks and enjoy.

**XxX**

**Chapter Five**

Walking through the streets of the hidden leaf village was a very happy Sakura Haruno. She had a big smile on her face and with good reason too. Last night with Naruto had been wonderful! She had her love back and she had not blown her cover. Sakura had considered going to the Hokage but she honestly did not have faith in the old man that he would do the right thing. He probably would not believe her or worse he would and he would want to go to the council with it. Now that was a bad idea. No she would keep things to her self, for now anyway.

Sakura had finally made it to her destination, the training ground for team 8. She had the love of her life back and now she wanted to get her best friend back. When Naruto died Sakura was devastated and would have been in deep depression if Hinata had not been there for her. It was Hinata that reminded her that she still had her daughter and later when she found out she was pregnant that she had her future child to live for. Hinata loved her children as much as she did and was like a second mother to them. Sakura knew that Hinata loved Naruto till the day she died but never held it against her; it was what made them so close. Hinata was the only person that knew how painful it was for her to loose him and they brought each other comfort.

Sakura sat at the edge of the training ground looking at team 8 do there training. It was still hard for Sakura to see this shy Hinata again. Sakura knew that under that shy exterior was a sleeping dragon waiting to wake, after all Hinata did not get to be the Hyuga's Goddesses of Death for nothing. That memory brought a smirk to Sakura's face. She remembered that shortly after Naruto's death the Hyuga council tried to force Hinata to marry the son of the Daimyo of swamp country. Sakura never got the specifics of what happed because Hinata never wanted to talk about it, so what she did know she got from Neji. What he told her was that the Hyuga council called her to a meeting and told Hinata that for the good of the clan she would marry the price of swamp country. The old bastards thought that she would be so sad about Naruto's death that she would not put up a fight, they were dead wrong. Hinata knew the crap they were trying to pull and refused saying she would never marry anyone but the man she loved knowing that that man was already gone. The council was surprised that she showed some backbone and if they were smart they would have let it go. Unfortunately for the fools they did not, they threaten to place her in the branch family and marry Hanabi to the prince. That was the last mistake they made as Hinata apparently attacked them in a fit of rage and killed them all except her father who stepped down as clan head the same day and giving her control of the clan.

Sakura was so busy thinking about her previous life that she did not notice that her presence had been noticed by the members of team 8.

Kurenai signaled her team to stop the exercise they were doing and asked them to come closer." It appears that we have a visitor don't we?" she asked loud enough to get Sakura's attention.

'_Dam! I got distracted again. Oh well I wanted to talk to Hinata alone but it can't be helped now' _thought Sakura as she stepped out of the bush she was hiding.

Team 8 was surprised to see the Uchiha's number one fan girl come out of hiding. They had no idea as to why Sakura would be spying on there training." Can we help you with some thing?" Kurenai asked the pink haired girl.

A nervous Sakura answered her "Well I was just waiting for you to finish your training to see if Hinata wanted to hang out".

"M-Me?" asked the shy Hyuga.

This immediately got Sakura suspicious looks from everyone." Why do you what to hang out with Hinata? If you want someone to help you stalk Sasuke why don't you go look for Ino" said an annoyed Kiba.

Sakura really wanted to kick his ass but let the jab go for now." Actually I just finished my team training so I was thinking of going to the new tea shop in the market district and wanted to invite Hinata to come with me".

"I d-don't know Sakura". Hinata did not know why Sakura wanted to spend time with her but she really didn't want to go with her. Sakura was not Hinata's favorite person because of how she treated Naruto.

Sakura knew that it would not be easy to get the shy Hinata to want to spend time with her but luckily she knew what to do about it." Come on Hinata I know you'll like it. And besides it's close to Ichiraku's so we will probably see Naruto if we go" she said in a suggestive tone.

Hinata went red as she got a huge blush at Sakura saying that. But like Sakura expected Hinata thought about her offer." W-Well I Guess I c-could go for a s-short time" she stuttered.

While Hinata blushed at the thought of seeing Naruto the rest of team 8 gave a sigh at how easily Sakura manipulated Hinata into going. Sakura gave them a smile and a victory sign and then left with Hinata. That would be the first of many times that they would see the shy Hyuga leave with the pink haired girl after a team training.

**XxX**

A moth had passed sense the team selections and only the three teams that belonged to her and her friends passed like in her previous life. Sakura and Naruto have been training in secret and have tried to get closer to Sasuke but the emo has ignored all their attempts at friendship. Sakura convinced Naruto to keep their relationship a secret for the meantime mainly for two reasons. One is that people will suspect something if she just went from a Sasuke fan girl to loving Naruto out of the blue, she was sure that Kakashi was already keeping an eye on her. Second and more importantly was her friendship with Hinata. In the future they did not become close till after Naruto's death and Sakura wanted to change that. Over the last moth Sakura had worked hard to get close to the shy Hyuga and it had not been easy. It had taken A LOT of work but she had succeeded in starting a friendship with Hinata. They had gone shopping; spend time talking and having lunch together. They even spend time with Ino in her family's flower shop sense Sakura knew Hinata loved flowers. Sakura knew she was playing a dangerous game. She knew she had to tell Hinata about her relationship with Naruto but she knew how much it had hurt her the first time. Sakura had to find a way to let her know without hurting her fried.

Naruto's voice finally brought her out of her thoughts to remind her that she was in the middle of a mission." This is Fox I'm at point A target sighted".

"This is Cherry Blossom I'm at point B waiting for orders"

After a small pause" This is Sasuke I'm at point C and ready to apprehend target".

"You have to use your code name. This is Cyclops team 7 prepare to attack. Fox, Cherry Blossom you are to lure the target to point C. Emo king you are to apprehend the target when it gets there, understood?"

"This is Fox copy that"

"This is Cherry Blossom copy that"

"This Sasuke copy that"

"What did I say? You have to use you code name" said Cyclops.

"I'm not using that stupid code name! And why did you let Naruto pick the code name's anyway?" asked a pissed off Sasuke.

"Because he asked me" said Kakashi in a mater of fact tone.

"Target in position, Go for it Emo!" yelled Naruto into the communicator. Sasuke just growled and sprung into action to secure the target.

**XxX**

30 minutes later at the Hokage tower team 7 arrived with their target the dreaded Tora the terror. The cat of the Fire Daimyo's wife was the bane of all leaf Gennin teams. The very pissed off Sasuke would agree sense he was covered in scratches and burses. It didn't help that his teammates had been laughing at him the whole way there.

"Congratulations on your successful mission" said the third Hokage."For your next D rank mission we have several tasks that include baby sitting, dog walking, or painting a fence". That was as far as he got before he was interrupted.

"Nooooooo I want to go on a real mission, something challenging and exiting not this little kid stuff. Come on old man!" wined Naruto. Sakura and Sasuke silently agreed with him but it was Iruka who was there that answered him.

"How dare you! You're just brand new gennin with no experience. Like everyone else you will resave simple missions to develop your skill and prove yourselves." Naruto began to argue only to be hit on the head by Kakashi.

The Hokage began to explain about mission ranks and their importance before he realized that nobody was paying attention to him. Kakashi was reading his book while Naruto was telling Sasuke and Sakura about the type of ramen he had the previous night. The Hokage's eyebrow twitched before he yelled at them "Silence! And pay attention".

"Aww you always lecture me like you're my grandfather or something .But I'm not a little kid anymore, I'm a ninja and I want a ninja mission" Screamed Naruto. Sakura chose to help him out.

"Lord Hokage, Naruto and I knocked Kakashi out cold. Surely we can handle a C rank mission". Iruka's eyes went wide wile the Hokage laugh loud and hard. Kakashi on the other hand went into a semi depressed state.

When the Hokage finally stopped laughing he said "Very well sense you seem so determent, I will give your team a C rank mission. You will act as bodyguards for a client".

This made Naruto exited."So who are we guarding? A princess? or some important business man?" Sakura of course knew who it was.

"Please have our guest come in" said the Hokage. A short while later the door opened to reveal a drunken looking old man wearing glasses who Sakura knew was Tazuna.

"What's this? I paid for real ninja not some snotty nosed kids! And you, the Emo kid with the duck ass haircut. You expect me to believe you're a real ninja?" This made Sakura giggle while Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing his ass off. Kakashi was trying to hold the pissed off Uchiha from attacking the client while the Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm Tazuna a master bridge builder and I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge that will change our world and I expect you to get me there safely even if it means giving up your life".

Kakashi had finally calmed the Emo down and said." Everyone get ready for the mission and meet at the front gate in an hour, dismissed!" with that team 7 left to get ready for the mission.

**XxX**

An hour and a half later Kakashi finally showed up to the waiting Tazuna and his team. As soon as they were out of the village Naruto yelled for joy as this was his first time leaving the village.

"You expect me to trust my life to this kid? He's a joke! At least the duck ass one doesn't yell around like an idiot."

Both Naruto and said duck ass hair wearing Emo shot the drunk a glare."Well you can trust me, I'm a Jonin and I wont let anything happen to you" said Kakashi in a board tone wile he read his book.

Naruto finally spoke."Shut up! I'm going to be Hokage one day so you better remember my name. I'm Naruto Uzumaki believe it!" Tazuna however just ignored him and kept walking which only pissed Naruto off even more.

**XxX**

After traveling for a while Sakura noticed a puddle on the side of the road. She looked back at Kakashi and gave him a meaningful look. Kakashi nodded letting her know he saw it too. Soon after they passed the puddle it disappeared reviling two Ninja wearing Mist headbands with a slash across it. They were wearing ripped black cloaks and camouflage pants and were armed with clawed gauntlets that were attached with a bladed chain.

The mist ninja moved quickly and raped the bladed chain around Kakashi then pulled it hard causing him to be ripped apart easily."That's one down. Now for number two" said one of the Mist ninja.

The Mist ninja moved quickly and appeared behind Naruto planning to do the same to him but Sakura stopped them. Before either of them could do anything she delivered a powerful punch to the one closest to her sending him crashing in to a tree. The second ninja was attached to the one that Sakura punched and because of the force she used he was pulled along with the other. Not wanting to end up like his bother he released the chain and when he landed he went strait at Tazuna.

"Die" screamed the Mist ninja as he charged at the scared bridge builder. He never made it to him because Naruto appeared in a blur in front of him. The mist ninja raised his clawed arm and swung down aiming for the blond but Naruto blocked the attack with his arm bracer and punched him in the face. Before the Mist ninja could do anything else Kakashi appeared behind him and knocked him out easily with a chop to the back of his head.

"Good job everyone, that was well done" said the one eyed Jonin.

"Kakashi sensei? I thought you were dead!" said a confused Naruto. Naruto then looked at were Kakashi's dead body should have been only to see a bunch of cut pieces of wood. _'Substitution?_' thought Naruto.

"Sorry about that but I needed to know who they were after us or Tazuna. That reminds me, I think you have some explaining to do Tazuna" said the Jonin in a voice that made the old bridge builder sweat. Tazuna then told them all about Gato and what he was doing to his country. Kakashi agreed to help after all three Gennin said they wanted to continue. Tazuna agreed to pay the difference once his country was back on his feet.

**XxX**

After a boat ride they finally reached the Land of Waves. The group was quickly making their way to Tazuna's house. Sakura knew that there was only a short time before they would have to face Zabuza and prepared for it.

"There" said Naruto as he threw a kunai into the bushes only to find that what he attacked was a white rabbit.

'_This is it'_ thought Sakura.

Suddenly Kakashi screamed "EVERYONE GET DOWN".As soon as he did a MASSIVE sword came flying by almost decapitating them all. As soon as the sword hit a tree and stuck in it the sword's owner appeared on top of it.

"Well if it isn't Zabuza Momochi rouge ninja of the village hidden in the Mist" said Kakashi.'_ If he's our opponent I'm going to need this'_ he thought as he placed his hand over his headband.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan eye, also know as the copy cat ninja Kakashi of the village hidden in the leaves. A man said to have copied over a thousand jutsu. Did I get that right?" said Zabuza.

"Its too bad Kakashi but you're going to have to hand over the old man".

"I'm afraid I can't do that" answered Kakashi.

Zabuza smiled under the bandages that covered his lower face." Well looks like I get to have some fun after all" he said as he stepped down and grasped his weapon.

The last thoughts Kakashi had before the battle started was'_ this is going to be dangerous'._

_**XxX**_

That's it for chapter five. Sorry for those that wanted to see more of Hinata but she won't come into the picture with Naruto until after they leave wave and go back to the Leaf.

I hope it was easier to read so let me know how it was.

Anyway enjoy and see you next chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone I want to thank everyone for the reviews and pm's with all the good advice that was given to me. I am now looking into possibly getting a beta reader to help me with my story but so far I haven't got a response. In the mean time I will try to do my best and listen to the advice I'm given.

Now last chapter I got a review and a few pm's about the little history of Hinata's future. It did not make since to some of you so I thought I would explain a little. The Hyuga council are not good guys in my story; actually they are a bunch of dicks. With that being said they were NOT trying to marry Hinata off for the good of the clan. That was just the excuse to get rid of her. Hinata has always wanted to change the way her clan is separated into the main and branch parts of the clan. With Naruto as Hokage, a Hokage that once promised he would change the ways of the Hyuga, the council saw Hinata as a threat to their control of the clan if she became clan head. That was one of the reasons they postponed Hiashi's stepping down as clan head. With Naruto's death they saw an opportunity to get rid of her with out opposition from the Hokage. That didn't really work out for them like they wanted. Anyway hope it helps those who had trouble trying to understand that part. Ok then on with the story and hope you like.

**XxX**

**Chapter 6**

The beginning of the battle had gone just as Sakura remembered. Kakashi had fought Zabuza and just like last time he had gotten himself caught in the **water prison jutsu** leaving only the Gennin of team 7 to fight Zabuza alone.

"Get the bridge builder and get out of here! This battle was over the moment I was caught" screamed a frantic Kakashi. He knew that 3 Gennin were no mach for Jonin the caliber of Zabuza Momochi.

The members of team seven knew that running was not an option. Zabuza would just finish off Kakashi then hunt them down and wipe them out.

"Naruto, remember that trick we practiced together last training session?" asked Sakura.

Naruto grinned remembering what she meant;" Hey Sasuke Sakura and I have a plan so get ready to take these guys out ok".

Sasuke didn't like being told what to do by Naruto but he knew that if they did not do something they would be killed. He would work with his team… This time anyway.

"What are you waiting for? Our mission is to keep the bridge builder alive so stay on mission and get out of here" screamed Kakashi desperately. He did not want to watch his students get killed in front of him.

"Were sorry Kakashi sensei but we cant do that" began Sakura."Those who break the rules are trash".

Kakashi's eyes went wide.

"But those who abandon their friends are worse then trash" finished Naruto.

"Ha ha ha" laughed Zabuza." You little brats playing at being ninja when you no nothing about what being a real ninja is." Zabuza's little rant was cut off by Naruto.

"Hey you eyebrow less freak, put this in your bingo book. The ninja that will become the Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves; he never backs down. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, remember it!" Zabuza looked pissed and was about to respond but Naruto did not give him a chance.

"Ok guys lets go wild! **Shadow clone Jutsu**". Immediately a dozen shadow clones surrounded the single Zabuza clone and charged.

'_Shadow clones hu? And quite a few of them too, this night me some fun after all' _thought Zabuza as his clone was buried under a mountain of orange. That how ever did not last very long as the Zabuza clone irrupted from underneath sending the Naruto clones in all directions and dispelled several of them.

"I'm not finished yet, Sasuke take this" said a Naruto as took something from his pack and tossed it to Sasuke who caught it and revealed it to be a large shuriken.

Sasuke grabbed the shuriken and immediately knew that there was something different about it. _'So this was your plan Naruto. Nice!_' thought Sasuke as he spun around and pulled out his own shuriken.

"Go for it Sasuke" yelled Naruto.

"Demon wind shuriken windmill of shadows" screamed Sasuke as he launched the shuriken at Zabuza.

"A shuriken? You'll never touch me with that" said the Zabuza clone.

"Who said we were aiming for you?" Sakura's voice came from behind him before a kunai pierced him from behind causing the clone to turn back to water.

"So you skipped my clone and aimed for my real body, very clever" said the real Zabuza."But not clever enough" he said as he used his free hand to catch the shuriken out of mid air." I told you a shuriken can't touch me" he said only to look at a smiling team was then that he noticed it.' A second shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first, the **Shadow Shuriken Jutsu**' thought Zabuza still not worried.

Zabuza was ready to jump over the second shuriken when just as it was in front of him it went up in smoke only to reveal a smiling Naruto in its place.

"Now!" screamed Sakura.

With a single hand sing Naruto was replaced with a log….A log covered with explosive tags ready to blow.

"No way" was all Zabuza was able to say before his world became nothing but pain.

The explosion went off sending Zabuza skidding across the lake until he crashed into the shore landing against a tree badly burned and injured.

The water prison that held Kakashi was stronger than steel and took most of the blast for him. When he made it to shore he was mostly uninjured."Good job everyone that was an excellent plan" he said as he made his way to the injured Zabuza.

" Im going to kill all of you" said Zabuza between grunts of pain.

"No you won't" said Kakashi as he pulled out a kunai." The only thing you're going to do is die, right here and right now". But before he reached Zabuza a pair of senbon needles struck Zabuza on the side of the neck.

All of team 7 was shocked when it happened. They quickly turned to the direction were the senbon came from and saw what appeared to be a single ninja wearing a white mask with the sing of the Hidden Mist Village standing on a branch of the tree next to Zabuza.

"You were right. He won't be hurting anyone ever again" said the masked ninja.

Sakura knew this was Haku and was thinking whether it would be better if she should stop Haku from taking Zabuza or letting things continue like before.

"Thank you again" Said Haku as he appeared next to Zabuza."Good buy" and with that they despaired in a swirl of water.

"What the hell was that? We did all the work and that guy just comes and takes him" fumed Naruto.

"Let it go Naruto. I may not be injured too badly but I'm low on chakra and it's too soon for any of you to be picking fights with hunter ninja" lectured Kakashi. He then turned to Tazuna and asked "Tazuna are we far from your home?"

Tazuna finally snapped out of it and answered him "no the village is up ahead and my house is just passed it".

Kakashi nodded and said "ok team lets get going and get Tazuna home". With that they headed towards the village.

When they got to the village the look of it shocked everyone but Tazuna who lived there and Sakura who had seen the damage that Gato had done to the small country before.

The village reeked of sorrow and despair. Everywhere you looked the signs of poverty were there. There was run down homes and empty shops and homeless people everywhere. The sight of it made Naruto's blood boil in rage. It made everyone realize just how bad these people needed the bridge to be built.

"That bastard! Look what he has done to these people" screamed a pissed off Naruto as he walked through the village.

"This is how it's been since Gato came here. The children suffer while the adults are too afraid to stop him. They have lost all hope. That's why I have to finish the bridge, it will bring comers and trade but more importantly that bridge will be a Singh of courage. We must restore the spirit of my people. When the bridge is finished people will believe again, they will believe that they can live with dignity. We can't let Gato stop us" said Tazuna with a passion that inspired the team.

"We wont .We WILL stop him, I promise. And I never brake a promise believe it!" said Naruto with equal passion. Sakura and Kakashi smiled while even Sasuke nodded in agreement as they made their way to Tazuna's house for some well needed rest.

**XxX**

The following day at Tazuna's house the team was finishing their breakfast when Kakashi decided it was time to talk to his team.

"Alright there's something I need to talk to you about" Kakashi told them.

"What do you want to talk to us about sensei?" asked Naruto.

"He means to tell us that Zabuza is alive" said Sakura getting confused looks from Naruto and Sasuke but a proud look from Kakashi.

"Your right Sakura but how did you figure it out?" asked Kakashi.

" For one thing Iruka sensei told us about hunter ninja and he said that hunter ninja always dispose of the body on site to keep its secrets from falling into enemy hands. That hunter ninja if he was a REAL hunter ninja should have done the same. Second thing that was off about that hunter ninja was that he used senbon to make the "kill". Senbon are rarely lethal but can cause a deathlike state if you target certain parts of the human body. With all that one would have to figure that the "hunter ninja" was no hunter ninja at all and was saving Zabuza from us" finished Sakura.

'_Impressive, she figured out everything so easily and showed obvious knowledge of the human anatomy that certainly was not taught at the academy. Sakura, you keep surprising me over and over, I wonder what surprise you'll bring out next' _thought Kakashi.

"That was absolutely correct Sakura, well done" said Kakashi.

"What? You mean that Zabuza is still alive?" asked a comfused Naruto.

"Yes, and I'm sure that he will come back for a second attempt to killing Tazuna. So to prepare I'm going to train all of you" said Kakashi getting exited looks from Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura of course knew that they both were in for a big disappointment.

"What kind of training are you going to teach us? Is it going to be some super cool jutsu?" asked an exited Naruto.

Kakashi chuckled and said "no I'm actually going to teach you a chakra control exercise to help you get better chakra control."

"What?" wined Naruto.

"What's the point of learning something useless like that" said Sasuke who agreed with Naruto.

"Hey hey it's not useless, it will help you control your chakra so you don't waist it all the time" he said looking at Naruto." Besides if you can master this you can theoretically master any jutsu" he said with a smile. Naruto and Sasuke still didn't look convinced.

"Fine whatever so what's the exercise?" asked the annoyed blond.

"Follow me outside and Ill show you" said Kakashi getting up and leading the team to the woods near the house. When they got there Kakashi stopped next to a tree and spoke them again.

"The exercise I'm going to teach you is tree climbing".

This brought frowns to the boy's faces, Naruto because he already knew it thanks to Sakura and Sasuke because he thought it sounded stupid.

"But I already know how to climb trees" began Naruto.

"But do you know how to climb trees with out using your hands?" interrupted Kakashi with a smug tone of voice. He was surprised by the blonde's answer.

"Actually yes I can" he said in an equally smug voice as he presided to do just that and climbed up the tree Kakashi was standing next to. Sakura followed Naruto's lead and did the same on the tree next to him.

Sasuke and Kakashi had surprised looks on their faces although Sasuke's quickly turned to a look of anger that the loser and the fan-girl knew something he an Uchiha did not.

"What? When? How?" rambled Kakashi.

"I studied chakra control exercises and learned it myself. I knew that because Naruto had horrible chakra control a lot of his jutsu failed so I trained him to this and other chakra control exercises" said Sakura with a pride while Naruto smiled and nodded.

Kakashi shot a look at Sasuke and could tell by the pissed off look on his face that he did not know how to do it." How come you didn't teach Sasuke how to do it?" he asked.

Sakura shrugged and said "We tried to get him to train with us so we could work as a team but every time we asked he said that an Uchiha elite like himself did not need help from clan less losers like us and that we would only slow him down. We got tired of trying so we stopped asking him to train with us."

Kakashi frowned under his mask when he heard this. His frown only got worse when he looked at Sasuke who had a smug look on his face that said he clearly agreed with what Sakura said.

Kakashi sighed deeply and then said "Ok then I'll train Sasuke here on tree climbing and you two can go train somewhere else for now."

"What? Why don't you teach us something else instead of having us waste our time like that" yelled an angry Naruto.

This got another sigh from Kakashi as it looked like he was going to have find a way to calm Naruto down. Luckily for Kakashi he was saved by Sakura.

"Naruto I cant believe you would say something like that. Do you really think that training with me is a waste of time?" asked Sakura in a fake hurt voice complete with fake tears ready to fall.

Naruto's face went from anger to a look of horror in a heart beat." No no no of coarse not Sakura I would never think something like that never" he said trying to stop sacra from crying. (Poor gullible Naruto)

Sakura's face went from a near crying face to a smirking face in a heart beat too." Great then stop messing around and let's go" she said turning around and walking off completely missing the sweat drop looks from all three members of team 7.

"Ok" said a happy Naruto who was glad he didn't really hurt Sakura's feelings and they were quickly gone.

'_Poor Naruto your only 12 and she's already got you wrapped around her finger, you might as well be married if your going to be whipped"_ thought Kakashi as he watched them leave.

"Ok Sasuke lets get started" he said and then showed Sasuke how to do the exercise and told him why it was important to learn it.

**XxX**

After two hours of TRYING to help Sasuke learn to do the tree climbing exercise Kakashi got tired of and went to look for the other two members of his team leaving a shadow clone with the Uchiha so he would not complain or notice he was gone.

Kakashi tracked Naruto and Sakura to a clearing next to a small lake with a waterfall in it. What he saw there left the Jonin in complete shock.

There was dozens of Narutos separated in to groups doing different chakra control exercises. There was some doing the leaf holding exercise while others were doing tree climbing and even water walking. A small group was even doing what looked like elemental chakra training but Kakashi knew even Sakura didn't have that level of control.(man is he wrong)What really got Kakashi's attention was the small group of clones walking up the water fall with a couple of Sakura clones with them. Kakashi looked around until he found the ones he believed to be the real Naruto Sakura standing in the middle of a small army of Naruto clones practicing their Taijutsu.

'_Wow these two really teach themselves don't they? If only Sasuke would get over his dam pride he would benefit from training with them, physically and more importantly emotionally'_ Thought Kakashi as he jumped down the tree he was in making his presence known.

"Oh Kakashi sensei what's up? Did the Emo finish his exercise already?" asked Naruto with a smile on his face.

"No he's still training. I tried to give him pointers but he ignores most of them saying that if you did it with only a fan-girl for help he can learn it alone."

This got pissed off looks from both Sakura and Naruto.

"So Naruto what's with all the shadow clones?" asked Kakashi.

It was Sakura that gave him the answer." Well sensei I read that shadow clones are able to pass on all the knowledge and experience they obtain to the original when they are dispelled so I had Naruto train in chakra control with them to improve his abysmal control."

"Hey I wasn't that bad" said Naruto with a pout.

"Your right Naruto…. You were worse!" she said. But Naruto just crossed his arms angrily not wanting to argue any longer, besides she was kind of right anyway.

'_Of course! With Naruto's massive chakra reserves this kind of training is perfect for him. I wonder why I didn't I think of it before?_ Thought Kakashi. (Because he's too busy reading porn)

"When did you learn how to make shadow clones Sakura?" asked Kakashi.

"About three weeks ago. I may not be able to summon my own personal army like Naruto but it still is a useful jutsu to know" she said.

Kakashi nodded in agreement." Yes it is, and you two appear to know exactly how to use it." He appeared to think about something for a while then looked at them and said" ok since the two of you have been working hard at chakra control I think your ready for me to teach you some Ninjutsu".

This news made Naruto jump for joy but Sakura didn't look too excited at all.

"Oh yeah! So what jutsu are you going to teach us ha sensei?" asked the happy Naruto.

"Well Naruto there's something we need to know first" he said pulling a couple of pieces of paper from a pouch on his hip.

"Is that chakra paper?" asked Sakura.

"Correct Sakura this paper will let us know what your elemental affinity is and" Kakashi was cut off before he could finish.

"We already know what our elemental affinities are. Naruto has wind and I have both water and earth" said Sakura.

If Kakashi didn't have a mask Naruto and Sakura would have seen his jaw drop wide open when she said that.'_ Naruto having wind affinity is no surprise since sensei had wind but Sakura having two affinities? That's more that Chuunin and some Jonin have. I'll have to look into it later. Just who are you Sakura?'_ thought Kakashi.

"Well I take it that you thought it would be useful to learn your elemental affinity and you found out what they were?" asked Kakashi getting nodes from both of them.'_ Something tells me it was Sakura who thought about it'_ he thought.

"Ok in that case" he said as he pulled 3 scrolls from his vest." Here Naruto" he said as he handed Naruto one of the scrolls." I don't know many wind jutsu because wind is a rare affinity no mater what country your from. But I think this jutsu will help you Naruto."

"Cool so what kind of just is it" he asked as he began to open it.

"It's an offensive wind style jutsu called **Wind Blast Jutsu**. Like the name says it lets you send a blast of wind at your enemies. It should be helpful for someone like you who is a mid to close range fighter."

"Thanks a lot Kakashi sensei I'm going to learn this in no time believe!" said the happy blonde.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto. He reminded him so much of his sensei it hurt sometimes. Kakashi then turned to Sakura and handed her the remaining two scrolls.

"For you Sakura I have one for each of your affinities. I have several jutsu for both water and earth so if you master these let me know and I'll give you others" he said as Sakura took the scrolls from his hand.

"The first is an offensive water style jutsu called **Water bullet Jutsu.** This jutsu lets you send a concentrated blast of water at your opponents. The second is a defensive earth style jutsu called **Mud Wall Jutsu**. This jutsu lets you summon a powerful mud wall to protect you from enemy attacks.

Sakura thanked Kakashi.'_ Yeah thanks a lot Kakashi but I already know these and most of the jutsu you can probably teach me. Oh well at least he is actually trying to teach us something instead of pushing us aside for Sasuke_" thought Sakura.

"Ok I think that's enough training for today. I'm sure that Tazuna is eager to get back to working on the bridge so let's call it a day for today".

Naruto looked disappointed because he wanted to start practicing his new jutsu but he knew that if he complained that Sakura would be mad so he stayed quite. With that the team left to pick up Sasuke so they could continue their mission that looked like it would be, in Shikamaru's words "Troublesome".

**XxX**

Well there you have chapter six. I hope everyone lets me know what they think about it. I want to take the time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope everyone has a good time. Ok well see you all next chapter. Later!


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Thank you to all of you who took the time to review or PM my story, I really appreciate it. I have not been able to find a beta but I'm still looking for one. I would like to take the time to let all the one's that keep sending me PM's to complain about the Sasuke "Bashing". I really don't see how I have done anything that would be worth getting so upset about. Yes I have had some fun with Sasuke mainly because I don't like the character and I never have since day one that I read the manga and watched the anime. Frankly anyone that has read the manga to its current chapter would see that there is no redemption for Sasuke coming. He more likely than not is going to get killed by Naruto before this manga is set and done; at least that's what it looks like to me. Any way if it bothers you so much that I call him Emo or that I make fun of him every once in a while then you should not be reading my story, this is a SakuraXNarutoXHinata story what ever gave you the idea that Sasuke was going to be one of the major characters or that he was going to be a good guy at all I have no idea. Ok then here's the next chapter, enjoy.

**XxX**

**Chapter 7**

The night of the team's first day of training Tazuna's daughter Tsunami had prepared a humble but delicious meal for the members of team seven. It had been a productive day for _most_ of team seven. Sasuke was not happy at all, he had worked on tree climbing for hours and had only got halve way up the stupid tree. Sakura and Naruto not only knew how to do it already but went to do training that wasn't a waste of time. Sasuke kept seething quietly as he listen to Naruto talk with the fan-girl about the jutsu scroll that Kakashi had given him. Kakashi should have given him that jutsu scroll; he was the one that needed it not that worthless loser. He needed to get stronger so he could avenge his clan and finally kill _him._ While Sasuke was pissed he wasn't the only one in the room that was in a bad mood. At the end of the table Tsunami's son Inari was glaring daggers at the happy blond.

"Yeah once I learn this new jutsu I'm going to be kicking all kinds of butt Sakura" said a happy Naruto. He and Sakura had been having a pleasant conversation about the days training when they were interrupted by an angry Inari.

"What are you all still doing here?" he said getting the attention of everyone in the room."Your just going to die if you stay here trying to play heroes."

"Hey kid it's our job to protect your grandpa so were not going anywhere. Besides I'm not gong to die until I become Hokage" said Naruto getting a little annoyed at the broody child. _'This kid is getting on my nerves, he reminds me of stupid Sasuke with that kind of attitude'_ he thought.

"You're just a fool that doesn't know anything. Gato is too powerful to be beaten, he's just going to kill all of you" yelled Inari.

"What ever kid we are going to kick his ass, you just watch and I'll show you what a real hero is supposed to do" said Naruto not knowing that would set the kid off.

"Heroes don't exist! Only fools that get themselves killed. You talk about being a hero so easily because you never had to deal with anything hard in your life. You probably have had it easy your whole life that's why you can say such foolish things" screamed the ignorant child.

The room went deadly quite. Sakura and Kakashi Knew just how wrong Inari was and it looked like somehow everyone else in the room knew not to say anything.

"I don't know what is like to have a hard life hu?" said Naruto in an eerily calm voice that sends a chill down everyone's spine. Sakura had heard it before; it was a sing of the bottled rage boiling inside Naruto. You didn't have to be a ninja to feel the waves of anger coming of the usually happy blond.

Then finally the dam broke loose."You don't know the first thing about me" screamed Naruto as he stood up smashing his hands on the table." You think your life is so bad? Why because you had it hard for what a year? Maybe two?" asked Naruto as he glared at the stupid little boy." You're so busy wallowing in your own pity that you don't see how **GOOD** your life has been." He yelled making the kid flinch." You have a family that loves you. Even if the rest of your life sucks you have them to help you, to at least let you know that you're not alone". Naruto was taking quick deep breaths to try and calm himself down." With the exception of a hand full of people and that's only recently I have had nothing but hate, anger, and indifference shown to me by my whole village. I was five FIVE years old when I was kicked out of the orphanage I was in because they did not want me to taint the other children with my evil. I lived in the streets living of garbage for weeks before the Hokage found out and gave an apartment. I have been starved, beaten, ignored, and ridiculed since I was old enough to remember. My life has been hell but I don't let it rule me. I make my rules and I don't run away from anything. I you can't do that then shut up! Just sit there crying about it and see if that changes anything."

Inari like his mother was crying at this point from Naruto's story." Its easy to do nothing, but for things to change you have to be willing to do what's hard and fight for what you care about" said Naruto as he turned and walked towards the door.

"I need to blow some steam so I'm going to go train for a while" said Naruto before he walked out the door.

The room was quite with the exception of Inari sobbing.

"Was Naruto's life really like that?" asked Tsunami. Sakura was about to answer but unfortunately Sasuke beat her to it.

"Of coarse not he was obviously lying" he said. That got him a glare from Sakura but it was Kakashi that answered his statement.

"It wasn't a lie Sasuke" he said getting everyone's attention.

"What are you talking about? Of coarse he's lying. Even if he's a loser what possible reason could the whole village have to hate him like that? He's stupid pranks are annoying but their just stupid pranks" said the irritated Uchiha.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you the reason, only Naruto can do that. What I can tell you is that the version Naruto gave Inari is the sugar coated version of his life, the real version is a lot worse than what he told you." With that said Kakashi got up and left the group heading upstairs for the night.

Sakura had remained quite trough the entire episode. She knew how bad Naruto's life had been and it still made her feel shame and disgust at herself that she had caused him so much pain in her previous life. She had no intention of doing that this time around. She turned to look at Sasuke who was apparently deep in thought.'_ I won't let Sasuke become the monster he became last time. No matter what the cost I won't let Naruto become obsessed with bringing the traitor back. I'll kill Sasuke myself before I let that happen again'_ she thought before she too excused herself and went to bed.

**XxX**

Meanwhile in the forest a pissed off Naruto was training."Wind style:** Wind Blast Jutsu" **screamed Naruto as he took a deep breath and released the jutsu; only to have a small breeze come out instead of a large blast of wind.

"Dam it!" huffed Naruto." Stupid kid doesn't know what's he's talking about." He took a deep breath to clam himself."I'll right forget the kid I'll show him and everyone else what I can do" he said as he made a cross shape hand sign

"**Shadow clone jutsu"** he screamed and with a large puff of smoke a dozen clones appeared next to him. He the looked at the clones and said "I'll right were going to practice the new jutsu that Kakashi sensei gave me so lets do it!" which got him loud cheering from his clones.

**XxX**

At Zabuza's hideout Haku was working at the now revived Zabuza.

"Dam it Haku why did you use the pressure points in my neck to put me in the death like state" said an angry Zabuza.

"I'm sorry Zabuza but it was the only way to get you safely out of there" said Haku in a feminine tone of voice.

"What ever as soon as I'm better I'm going to get even with those peaces of leaf scum, especially with that stupid blond brat" growled Zabuza.

Haku smiled "well I will go get some healing herbs in the morning to help you recover faster but it will be at least a week before you are back on your feet."

Just then they heard the door open to reveal a short man wearing a business suit and sunglasses. He was being escorted by two thugs caring swords at their hips.

"Well well would you look at that. The Demon of the Mist bedridden by a bunch of brats" said the small man named Gato.

Haku glared at the midget but said nothing.

"What are you doing here Gato and what do you want?" asked an annoyed Zabuza.

"What am I doing here? What are you! Doing here? I'm not paying you to get your but kicked by a bunch of kids. I'm paying you to get a job done so why isn't the bridge builder dead" yelled the pissed off umpa lumpa.

"He will be dead soon along with the rest of the trash from the Leaf Village. Now get out of here before I make you shorter than you already are" he said ominously as he reached for his giant sword to make sure the short man got the point.

Gato gulped." F-fine just make sure you do kill the bridge builder or you wont get paid" said the short man as he and his men left the room.

"I don't trust him" said Haku.

"I don't trust him either but we need the money so we have to do the job. I'll deal with him once we get paid" said Zabuza as he laid back to rest.

**XxX**

The following morning was walking through the forest stopping once in a while to pick up some medicinal herbs. After a while Haku came upon a clearing in the forest. Haku looked around and saw that several trees had been knocked down and that there was damage allover the place as if some sort battle had occurred recently. By the looks of it Haku had to say there must have been several jutsu thrown around to cause this kind of destruction. Haku thought it would be a good idea to get a closer look and noticed that there was someone sleeping in the middle of the clearing and got closer to get a better look at the person. Haku was surprised to see that it was none other than the blond ninja that had fought Zabuza. Haku was having an internal struggle trying to think on what to do. The sleeping blond was an enemy and his death would be beneficial to Zabuza's plan. Haku's hand was hovering above that boy's neck still not sure on what to do.

Naruto did not remember ever falling asleep but was now feeling someone shaking him gently awake and heard a soft voice speak to him.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep out here. Come on wake up" said the voice.

"Hu?" Naruto lazily opened his sleepy eyes to see what appeared to be a pretty girl kneeling over him. He rose up and looked around sleepy and confused, after rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he noticed that he was still in the forest.

"Are you alright" asked the same voice that woke him.

Naruto turned to look at the person talking to him and saw it was a pretty girl wearing a pink kimono. She had long black hair that went pass her shoulder and pretty brown colored eyes.

"Who the heck are you?" he said with out thinking. Naruto realized that he was being rude then asked in a nicer way." What I mean is who are you? and what are you doing here?" he asked with a small blush on his face.

Haku smiled at him and answered "I'm a villager and I'm here gathering herbs."

"Herbs?" he asked.

"Yes that's right. They are for treating illnesses and healing wounds" answered Haku with a smile.

"Oh? Well do you want some help?" asked Naruto getting a smile from Haku and a nod. Naruto got up and Haku began to explain which herbs they were looking for.

**XxX**

Back at Tazuna's house Sakura was walking into the kitchen. She noticed that everyone except Naruto was there." So it looks like Naruto never came back from training last night hu?" she asked.

Kakashi looked up from his book and said "He probably passed out from training like usual. I'm sure he's fine" he finished and with that went back to his book.

Sakura was not worried she knew what Naruto was capable of doing if he was pushed into a fight so she took her seat and started her meal.

Sasuke on the other hand go up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going Sasuke?" asked Tsunami." It's still early".

"I'm going for a walk" he said as he walked out the door.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's retreading back as he walked out the door.'_ He can't fool me; he's probably going to go look for Naruto. Oh well I guess there's nothing to worry about'_. And with those thoughts Sakura returned her attention back to her meal.

**XxX**

Back in the forest Naruto was helping Haku collect herbs." You start your work early don't you sis?" asked the blond as he handed Haku one of the herbs he picked up.

"I like the morning, it's calm and peaceful. I honestly did not think I would find anyone sleeping in the forest" answered Haku.

Naruto smiled at Haku." I was working on a new jutsu that will help me grow stronger".

"So are you a ninja? Because I noticed that headband you're wearing".

Naruto's smile only grew wider." So you noticed hu? Only super cool ninja like me are allowed to wear these" he said proudly.

"Oh really? I see, that's very impressive, but does that mean that you're training for something that's dangerous?" asked Haku.

"I was just working on a new jutsu. It's a lot of work but it will help me grow stronger".

"You seem very strong now, isn't that enough for you?"

"No no I need to get stronger and stronger so I need to keep practicing".

"Why? Why is it so important to you?"

"Because my dream is to be the best and strongest ninja in my village, when I am I will become Hokage and everyone will have to acknowledge and except me. I also have something to prove and a promise to keep to someone that's very important to me."

"So you're doing all this for that person or are you doing all this for yourself?"

"Hu?" was Naruto's brilliant come back.

Haku giggled at the look on Naruto's face." What I meant was if you there's someone precious to you?"

"Someone precious to me? What exactly do you mean by that sis?"

Haku stood quite for a while looking for the rights words to use. With a sad smile Haku finally spoke" You see when someone has something or someone to protect, that's when they become truly strong".

Naruto thought bout what Haku said and remembered his fight with Zabuza and more so his fight with Mizuki. He remembered what it felt like to see someone you care about in danger and his anger and desperation to want to save them. He thought about the people he cared about Sakura, Kakashi, Iruka, Teauchi and Ayame, the third Hokage and even to a small extent Sasuke.

"Yeah I hear you sis, I know exactly what your talking about" he said with a small smile on his face.

Haku stood up and picked up the herb basket before sayig to him."Then I know you will become strong very strong".

Naruto stood up and smiled at Haku.

Haku was bout to turn around to leave when Naruto said "Thanks a lot sis".

Haku stopped then looked at Naruto and smiled."Your welcome Naruto, but I think I should let you know something".

"What is it?" asked as he smiled and placed his hands behind his head.

"I'm a boy".

Silence…." WHAT!"

'_He's a guy? No way! He's prettier than Sakura!' _thought the shocked Naruto as Haku laughed at the look on his face.

**XxX**

Back at Tazuna's house Sakura was helping Tsunami clean the dishes when she was suddenly filled with a powerful feeling of anger. It came so suddenly that she froze getting Tsunami's attention.

"Are you ok Sakura?' she asked.

Sakura snapped back to reality and answered her nervously "Ho um yeah I'm fine, I guess that I spaced out there for a second."

Tsunami looked at her for a second the shrugged and went back to cleaning the dishes.

'_For some reason I suddenly feel like I really want to hurt Naruto right now. I wonder why that is?'_ she thought as her eyebrows twitched. She figured it was nothing and went back to helping Tsunami.

**XxX**

Back in the forest Sasuke had found the clearing were Naruto had been practicing. He noticed the damage all around him and it pissed him off to know that Naruto was getting stronger while he was still stuck doing tree climbing with Kakashi which he thought was a waste of his time. He looked around for Naruto and found him at the edge of the clearing, what he saw made Sasuke even more pissed that he already was. Naruto was standing there talking and laughing with a pretty girl.

'_I guess that the loser finally gave up on getting the pink-haired fan-girl to go out with him hu? Not that some poor village girl from this pathetic country is any better, but at least this one is actually pretty good looking'_ he thought.(Sasuke dose not know Sakura and Naruto are secretly going out though Kakashi has his suspicions)

Sasuke normally did not care what Naruto did but what really pissed him out was that while he Sasuke they avenger was stuck not getting any closer to his goal, the loser was not only getting stronger but he was doing it apparently with enough time to waste flirting with girls.' _Well if the loser thinks I'm going to let him get away with that he's dead wrong'_ thought the Uchiha as he made his way towards them.

Unlike Naruto Haku did notice Sasuke arrive and decided it was time to leave." Well it was a pleasure to meet you Naruto but I really should be getting home so I can start to treat my friend".

"He? I guess your right I should be getting back before Sakura kills me for being late" he said scratching the back of his head. What he didn't say was that he had gotten a feeling of dread earlier, like his life was suddenly in great danger or something, it was weird.

Haku gave Naruto a small bow and turned to leave only to find Sasuke in front of him blocking his way.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke shot Naruto a glare before turning back to Haku with a smirk on his face.

"Hey there beautiful, what's your name?" he asked in a flirty voice.

Naruto's eye went wide in shock. Sasuke had never shown any interest in girls in all the time that Naruto knew him, even with all the girls after him not even to Sakura which Naruto was thankful for. In all honesty Naruto was seriously starting to think Sasuke was gay. It was then that Naruto remembered that Haku was a guy. Naruto's mouth snapped shut trying desperately not to laugh.

Haku smiled at Sasuke. "Thank you for the compliment but I'm really in a hurry" he said as He tried to go around Sasuke only to have him cut him off.

"Hey don't be like that. Why don't you forget that loser over there" he said nodding towards Naruto." And you let me take you out on a date" he said trying to sound as cool as possible.

Naruto on the other hand had both his hands over his mouth fighting a losing battle trying to hold is laughter.

"I apologize but I'm afraid I can't accept your offer, I really must get goi" Haku began but was cut off buy Sasuke.

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha" he said as if that would settle the matter.

Haku registered the information for later but was starting to get really annoyed with the stuck up boy in front of him.

"Well it was nice meeting you Sasuke Uchiha but like I said I really must be going" he said as Haku side stepped him finally getting around the Uchiha.

Sasuke turned to look at Haku slightly annoyed. No girl had ever ignored him, actually they always did everything they could to get his attention; so why was this one so different?" You never did tell me your name gorgeous" he said still trying to be smooth.

Naruto was now on the floor, his face going purple from trying desperately not to laugh.

Haku stopped and turned back to the annoying boy and smiled at him." My name is Haku…. And I'm a guy" he said and turned to leave the clearing but he did not leave before hearing Naruto's roaring laughter behind him.

**XxX**

At Tazuna's house Kakashi walked into the living room and noticed that only Sakura and Tazuna were there." I see that Naruto and Sasuke are not back yet. Perhaps I should go out and look for them" he said to them.

It was then that they could here loud laughter coming towards the house so Sakura and Kakashi went out side to have a look. What they saw when they got out there was a laughing Naruto holding his sides as if he were in pain while a livid looking Sasuke was glaring daggers at the laughing blond.

"Shut the hell up loser" snarled the pissed off Uchiha.

"Ha Ha, oh I don't think so SasGAY" said Naruto before roaring in laughter again.

"IM NOT GAY" he yelled as he tackled the still laughing blond.

Kakashi sighed but went to separate the two." Hey hey stop that" he said as he pulled them apart." We don't have time for this. They bridge is not finished yet and Zabuza is sure to be back before that so come on you two get it together" he said.

With a final glare at Naruto Sasuke left the group with out a word while Naruto grabbed Sakura and rushed her inside obviously dyeing to tell her why he was laughing.

Kakashi shook his head as he pulled out his orange book." Well this is going to be a long mission" he said as he left to do what ever it is that Kakashi dose when nobody is watching him.

**XxX**

Well that's it for chapter 7. Next chapter will bet the battle on the bridge. Let me know what you think and what would be better in your opinion, I always take advice into consideration. I hope you all enjoy my story and again thanks for all the help. Till next chapter see yeah!


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone I'm sorry it took me longer for the update, I was planning to update sometime last week but I got a stomach virus and was really out of it for the last few days. I'm glad so many people liked the last chapter and thanks to all that took the time to write a review and PM's.

I would like to take the time to address a few questions that several people seem to have. One question that I got in several PM's and a review was why I don't use honorifics in my story. Well the main reason is because I'm not really familiar with them having mainly watched the English dubbed anime. Only later did I read the manga which I do now more than watch the anime. I'm just afraid I'll mess it up so I don't use them, maybe in later stories but for this one I want to stick with what I know.

A second question several people had was why I gave Sakura two elemental affinities and Naruto only one. Well there are several reasons I gave Sakura two but you will have to wait for later on the story to find out BUT one of the main reasons was that I wanted to give Sakura a more versatile fighting style. I did not want her to rely solely on medical jutsu especially since she hasn't had formal training and she already has Kakashi keeping an eye on her. As for Naruto I don't think he needs to have more than one since wind is already badass. He's going to get more than just wind jutsu but not more than one affinity.

Feel free to review or PM me any questions you may have and I will try to answer them for you. Ok now that I hopefully answered some of your questions let's get on with the story.

**XxX**

**Chapter 8**

Several days had passed since the team had arrived at the Land of Waves. Sakura now stood in her room as she finished getting her ninja gear on. Once she had finished she took a calming breath to calm herself down. Today was the day that Zabuza would make his move. Sakura made her way downstairs and she saw that everyone was already there having breakfast except for Naruto who was still asleep. When Tsunami saw her she greeted her and asked to take a seat so she could serve her breakfast. As Sakura began her meal she noticed Kakashi and Tazuna having a conversation.

"In a few days the bridge will be finished and I have all of you to thank for that" said Tazuna.

"Well don't thank us just yet. Zabuza will make his move soon and that's when the real danger will come" said Kakashi while reading his book.

"Be that as it may I would like to ask you a question that I have been meaning to ask you before but have not had the time to do it" said Tazuna. Kakashi looked up from his book and nodded to Tazuna to signal him to ask his question. "Why did you stay to protect me even when you found out that I had lied to bring you here?" asked Tazuna.

Kakashi looked away from him and turned to look at Sasuke who was sitting next to him and the turned to look at Sakura who was sitting in front of him. His visible eye made a U shape that Sakura knew was because he was smiling under his mask. Kakashi then turned back to Tazuna and answered him. "Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardness cannot survive" he said. This got Kakashi confused looks from everyone but Sakura who had heard the saying before." That was a quote from the First Hokage" he said as he noticed Inari looked thoughtful at his words." Anyway" he said. "As soon as Naruto wakes up we can escort you to the bridge" said Kakashi to Tazuna.

That got Sakura's mind racing. She knew Naruto had to stay because Gato would send some of his thugs to capture Tsunami. She had to convince Kakashi to let him stay without getting him suspicious about it. "Maybe we should let him get a little extra sleep" began Sakura getting everyone's attention. "He was training pretty hard yesterday and probably over did it. We should let his get some rest and when he wakes up Tsunami can send him to join us" she said trying to sound casual.

Kakashi thought about it and agreed with Sakura. Naruto had been pushing himself very hard the last few days when he spied on Naruto and Sakura's training. He was surprised how far Naruto had gotten with the wind jutsu he had given him. He was a little disappointed that Sakura was not practicing the Jutsus he gave her but figured it was because she did not have the chakra capacity that Naruto has but then again no one dose. "Yes I think Sakura is right. Naruto has been pushing his body to the limit the past few days and could really use the rest." He then turned to Tsunami and said "We'll leave him in your care and when he wakes up please send him to the bridge." After getting a node of agreement the rest of the team left with Tazuna for the bridge with Sakura already working strategies in her mind getting ready for the battle she knew would be waiting for them once they got there.

Several minutes after the team left the house for the bridge Naruto slowly woke up. He blinked his eyes and looked around but saw that Sasuke and Kakashi were already gone and their beds were already made." Ahh where is everybody?" he yelled to himself. He quickly left the room and went downstairs. When he got there he saw only Tsunami cleaning dishes and Inari was looking out the window. "Hey where's everybody? Where did everybody go?" he asked in a hurry.

Tsunami turned to look at him and said "Oh Naruto, your sensei thought you needed a rest so they let you sleep in". She would have continued but Naruto screamed in frustration and ran upstairs to get dressed.

"I knew it they all ditched me" said the pissed off blond as he quickly got dressed. Once he was finished he jumped out the window and hurried to the bridge.

**XxX**

The rest of the team arrived at the bridge to a horrible site. All the workers were laying on the floor, some grunting in pain while others were out cold. Tazuna feared that his people had been killed.

"What happed? Someone was here, someone got to them" yelled a scared Tazuna.

'_This is it. This is wear it starts. I will change the past and I'm going to start right here, I will change everything' _thought Sakura as she looked at the place that would soon become a battlefield. She steeled her nerves as a thick mist began to roll over the bridge which showed the battle would soon begin.

"Sasuke, Sakura get ready. It looks like round two is about to begin" said Kakashi as he redid himself for battle.

'_He's here'_ thought Sakura.

"Sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi". Zabuza's voice was heard from within the mist." But where is the blond brat? All I see is the pink haired girl and the coward that's still shaking in fear, pathetic" said Zabuza as several Zabuza water clones appeared and surrounded the group causing Sasuke to smirk.

"I'm not shaking in fear" said Sasuke." I'm trembling with excitement".

"Go on Sasuke do it" said Kakashi.

One of the clones tried to attack but Sasuke disappeared in a blur and before any of the clones could do anything they were all cut in half and dispersed into water around them as Sasuke reappeared in the same spot he had been a second ago.

"So you took out my water clones hu? The brat has improved" said Zabuza who appeared in front of the group with Haku next to him who was still wearing the hunter mask. "Looks like you have a rival Haku" he said so only he would hear.

"So it would seem" Haku said in an emotionless tone of voice.

**XxX**

Back at Tazuna's house

"Inari could you please come down and help me with something?" asked Tsunami.

"Sure mom I'll be right down" he said.

Just then Tsunami heard a crash. She turned to see that her door had been broken down. She recognized that the men who did it were two of Gato's thugs.

"So your Tazuna's daughter hu? Well too bad you're going to have to come with us" said one of them.

Inari had been upstairs when he heard a loud crash followed shortly by his mother's scream. He ran downstairs to see his mother on the floor with a bruise on her cheek showing she had been struck. "Mother!" screamed Inari getting her attention.

"No! Don't come here, run away hurry!" she screamed at him franticly.

The thugs noticed Inari and one of them said "don't move kid". Then he turned to his partner "should we grab him too?" he asked.

The other shook his head and said "no Gato said he wanted one hostage."

This made the first one grin." Great that means that I can waste the kid" he said as he began to draw his sword.

"Wait please don't hurt my son he's just a boy. I'll do anything you want just please don't hurt him" begged Tsunami.

The second thug nodded to the first then turned to Inari and said "looks like your mom came through for you kid, you should consider yourself lucky ". With that they grabbed Tsunami and began to tie her up.

Inari could only cry and watch as the men tide his mother up and took her from their home. As he sat there crying he heard Naruto's voice in his mind. **Coward!** Said Naruto's voice.** Just sit there crying about it and see if that changes anything**. _'But I'm scared. I'm afraid to die. I'm sorry but its juts too hard'_ thought Inari.** It's easy to do nothing, but for things to change you have to be willing to do what's hard and fight for what you care about.** Inari's eyes widen. Naruto had been right all along, he was the one that had been a fool for giving up hope. Inari remembered his father's words' _If you care about something then protect it even if you have to put your on the line, protect it with both your arms'._ Yes Inari finally understood what Naruto and his father had meant, and he was finally was going to do something about it.

Outside one of the thugs grabbed Tsunami's face and says "We're going to treat you _REAL_ good so don't worry your pretty little head".

"Stop! Let my mom go!" all three turned around to see Inari standing there with a determined look on his face.

"Inari? No run away!" screamed a scared Tsunami.

"Well well look what we have here, looks like we have a little tough guy hu?" said the one that had wanted to attack Inari.

"How cute he came to save his mommy" said the other one.

"You better get away from my mom" screamed Inari as he charged at them.

"That's it the brat's dead" said the first one as he drew his sword and raised it to cut the boy down. He however did not a chance as before Inari got to them they heard a popping sound behind them. They turned around to see a log on the floor where Tsunami was just a second before.

"What the hell?" said one of them.

"Wind style: **Wind blast Jutsu**." Before either of them knew what hit them they were blasted off the walkway into the sea by a powerful blast of wind.

"Sorry I'm late but the heroes usually show up at the last minute" came Naruto's voice from behind Inari.

Inari turned around to see Naruto untying his mother.

"Inari" she said as she hugged her son and cried in happiness.

Naruto looked at Inari and said "Good job Inari that was very brave. Your dad would be proud of you, I know I am."

"How did you know those men were here?" asked Tsunami.

"Well as I was making my way to the bridge I saw that a wild boar had been killed at the side of the road. It had been killed with a sword and I noticed some of the trees had also been cut. The cuts seem to be heading in the direction of the house so I wanted to make sure you guys were ok so a came back" said a smiling Naruto. After he was sure they were safe Naruto finally made his way to the bridge and hoped he was not too late.

**XxX**

Back on the bridge team seven and Tazuna were staring at Zabuza and Haku.

"Looks like I was right, it was all just an act" said Kakashi.

"So that whole business about being a hunter ninja was just a bunch of bull?" asked Tazuna.

"Yeah it appears so" said Kakashi.

"I'm tired of waiting, take care of the punk Haku" said Zabuza.

"Yes Zabuza" said Haku. With that he went in for the attack. Sasuke saw this and jumped in to intercept him.

"Sakura cover Tazuna and stay close to me. Let Sasuke handle him" said Kakashi.

'_I guess I don't have a choice. Most of my jutsu would destroy the bridge, and I have to be careful about using medical jutsu in front of Kakashi since he's already keeping a close watch on me'_ thought Sakura." Ok Kakashi sensei I got it" she said.

Sasuke and Haku were going at each other at blinding speed. Both were weaving, dodging and blocking each other's attacks until they clashed their kunais together with both ending face to face.

"We want the bridge builder not you. If you back down I won't have to kill you" said Haku trying to reason with the Uchiha.

"Save it loser. As if a pathetic fake like you could ever hope to match the power of an elite Uchiha like me" said Sasuke.

"You're making a mistake. You won't be able to keep up with my speed" said Haku." I have already gained two key advantages over you."

Sasuke smirked "oh yeah? Well what are they?" he asked.

"First we are surrounded by water" Haku said." Second I have blocked one of your hands so you only have one hand to defend yourself." Before Sasuke could think about what he said Haku began to fly through one handed hand sings.

'_Hand sings with a single hand? I have never seen that before'_ thought Kakashi.

"Secret jutsu:** One Thousand Needles of Death**" after Haku finished announcing his attack the water around the two rose into the air before turning into needles of ice before they shot forward to impale Sasuke. Sasuke however managed to focus his chakra into his feet and release it in a single burst that allowed him to escape just in time to avoid the attack. Sasuke used the opportunity to shoot several shuriken at Haku who had to jump back to avoid them. That caused Haku to lose sight of Sasuke who appeared next to Haku and delivered a powerful kick to Haku's face sending him skidding across the bridge ending just in front of Zabuza.

"I told you nobody can match the power of an Uchiha like me" said Sasuke arrogantly.

"You made a big mistake insulting my student Zabuza. Sasuke here is the leaf's number one rookie. Sakura here is the brightest mind of her age. And Naruto is the most unpredictable Knucklehead ninja to ever come out of the Hidden Leaf Village" said Kakashi with pride.

**XxX**

Back on the forest Naruto was jumping through the trees when he suddenly sneezed so hard that it caused him to lose his balance and fall from the tree he was standing on.

**XxX**

Back on the bridge Zabuza was getting annoyed." Haku we can't afford to waste more time like this so get on with it" he said.

"Yes Zabuza" said Haku. He put his hands together and a large amount of chakra surrounded his body. Suddenly the air grew cold and before anybody could do anything about it mirrors made of ice began to materialize around Sasuke crating a dome of mirrors. "I'm sorry it has come to this" said Haku. "Secret Jutsu :**Crystal**** ice mirrors**".

'_What is that? And how does it work?'_ thought Kakashi as he saw the boy wearing the hunter ninja mask step into one of the ice mirrors. Once he did reflections of him appeared on all the other mirrors as well.'_ I have to do something' _thought Kakashi as he moved to help Sasuke only to be intercepted y Zabuza.

"Oh no you don't Kakashi your fight is with me, if you make a move to interfere with their fight the bridge builder and the girl are dead. Besides your boy doesn't stand a chance against Haku. Even the strongest Jonin have fallen against him. The Uchiha brat is as good as dead" he said than began his attack

.

It was several minutes later that Naruto arrived on the bridge. He quickly noticed that Kakashi was engaged in battle with Zabuza while Sakura kept guard over Tazuna. He looked at the other side of the bridge and saw a dome that looked to be made of mirrors and saw Sasuke being turned into a human pin cushion by the fake hunter ninja. Sasuke in a desperate attempt to break free lunched a large fireball at the mirrors but it didn't even scratch them.'_ Dam it! If Sasuke's fireball didn't scratch them than my wind jutsu won't do anything to them'_ thought Naruto as he made his way to the dome trying to stay hidden. Normally he would have made a loud and flashy entrance trying to be cool but Sakura had pounded into him that ninjas have to be silent and invisible not loud and annoying.

Back in the dome Haku was having some trouble with the young Uchiha. It appeared that in the heat of battle the boy had awakened his powerful bloodline. Now he was able to block or doge most of Haku's attacks. The longer the battle went on the harder things would be for him. So Haku chooses to end the battle once and for all.' _I have wasted too much chakra, I have to defeat this boy now and help Zabuza'_ thought Haku." This ends now" he said and made a few hand sings. Immediately the water under Sasuke's feet rises up and turns to ice incasing them making him unable to move. Haku takes the opportunity to end the battle by attacking him from all sides hitting him in multiple areas as he was unable to move out of the way.

Naruto had been preparing his attack when this happened. He had planned to attack the dome from all sides with his shadow clones and with kunais with explosive tags to break the jutsu. He gave up the plan when he saw Sasuke get hit by Haku's attack. Moving faster than he thought possible he was there inside the dome able to catch Sasuke before he fell to the ground as the ice that held him turned back to water.

"Sasuke? Hey Sasuke are you ok? Hey say something to me dam it!" screamed Naruto.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with his newly awakened Sharingan still active. Naruto saw that Sasuke's eyes were no longer onyx black but now were blood red with two black comas on the right one and one coma in the left. Blood was falling from Sasuke's mouth as he spoke to Naruto. "H-he's still out there…My brother. I-I promised myself I would not die until I killed him….That was my dream" he said as his eyes turned to normal. "Don't… Let your dream die too Na..Ru..To" said the Uchiha as tears fell down his face and his eyes lost focus and his body went limp.

Naruto could only stare at Sasuke's still body. He did not even notice the tears that fell from his own face. Sasuke had not been a close friend, in fact he hated Sasuke's attitude most of the time. But Sasuke had been a comrade and teammate, a rival he used to grow stronger and better himself. Sasuke may not have been a close friend but he was one of the very few people that did not hate him for what he held inside of him. And now he was gone! Someone had taken Sasuke's life, his dreams. That person was going to pay!... They were going to pay in blood.

"Is this the first time you have seen a friend die in battle?" asked Haku but got no answer." This is part of what it means to be a ninja. He died a true shinobi worthy of honor".

"Shut up" growled Naruto in a horse whisper as he laid Sasuke's body down. As he did the water around him began to evaporate. "You're going to pay for this" he said as a cyclone of red chakra erupted around him. The chakra was so fierce that it cut into the ground tearing the ruble into pieces. Naruto stood up with his face facing down in the middle of the Cyclone. He wiped his head up to face Haku but it was no longer the face of the boy he met in the forest. Gone were his cerulean colored eyes and were replaced by blood red eyes with cat like slits in the middle. His nails and canines elongated and were more like fangs and claws. His whisker marks grew thicker and darker giving him a more feral look. Naruto finally spoke but it was not his voice. It was a darker voice, a voice full of hate and malice; A voice full of rage and blood lust.

"**IM GOING TO KILL YOU**" he roared as the cyclone exploded sending a wave of chakra that shattered all the mirrors fore sing Haku to drop the jutsu.

Sakura had been watching the fight between Kakashi and Zabuza waiting for the right moment to intervene. When she suddenly she felt a surge of a foul chakra. A chakra she had come to know well in her previous life. She knew what the reason probably was and knew her time to act would soon come as she saw Kakashi summon his ninja dogs to track down and attack Zabuza.

Haku didn't understand what had happened. One minute he had just defeated the Uchiha boy and the next minute the blond boy that he had met in the forest had appeared bout of nowhere. When the blond saw his friend fall there was an eruption of power that came from him and shattered his strongest jutsu. Before Haku could react the feral looking boy had materialized in front of him and delivered a devastating punch to his face that shattered Haku's mask and send him rocketing across the bridge until he crashed against the railing. Now all that Haku could do was sit there battered and broken as the enraged blond charged at him ready to finish him. But just as he was going to deliver the final blow the boy's fist stopped only centimeters from Haku's face.

Naruto was panting heavily. He had stopped his attack because he recognized the boy in front of him, it was the same boy he had met in the forest a few days ago. "Haku? Is that really you?"

"Why didn't you do it? Why not finish me off? Did you not just swear to avenge your friend by killing me? Or were those just empty words? Go ahead and do it I'm finished. I have failed my master. I'm nothing but a broken tool that has lost its value; I have no further use no propose for existing.

To say that Naruto was confused was an understatement. "What are you talking about? You sound like you WHANT to die. Why?" he asked the boy in front of him. Haku began to tell Naruto everything about himself. He told him about his family and how he met Zabuza. (Sorry but I'm too lazy to write Haku's sad live story)

With the other group Kakashi had Zabuza captured with his ninja dogs." It's over Zabuza. It's time to finish this but it won't be with Sharingan the imitations of other ninja's jutsu. No its time I introduce you to…. My own Jutsu" said Kakashi as he flew through hand sings at incredible speed. Chakra began to gather as lightning irrupted from his palm and surrounded him before it stabilized in his hand. "**Lightning Blade**" yelled Kakashi. "I won't allow you to kill Tazuna. He is a brave man with a noble dream. The bridge he is building is the hope of this land and its entire people. You're like a disease, you attack one but affect all and you don't even care. That is not the way of the shinobi."

Zabuza only smirked under the bandages that covered the bottom of his face. "Your right, I don't care. These useless little people and their insignificant dreams, why should they matter to me? I have my own dream and I don't care what I have to do or who I have to destroy to make my dream come true" yelled Zabuza.

"But to have a dream you have to have a future, you don't. Your future is all used up Zabuza. You're going to die right here and right now!" Kakashi yelled as he charged at the immobile Zabuza.

Haku was trying to convince Naruto to kill him when they felt a powerful surge of chakra followed by the sound of chirping birds. "It appears l can still do a final service for my master" Haku said as he did some hand sings." Goodbye Naruto, may you become a strong Hokage like no other" he said as he sunk in to the mirror that had appeared behind him.

Kakashi ran at Zabuza at full speed intent on ending his life but just as he prepared to strike something that he did not expect happened. A mirror of ice appeared in front of Zabuza with the fake hunter ninja ready to intercept the attack. It didn't matter it was too late for Kakashi to stop his attack. Just as he was about to kill the boy Kakashi heard Sakura's voice from within the mist.

"Water style: **Tidal Shield**"

Out of nowhere a round shield of water appeared just in time to intercept Kakashi's attack. Kakashi could not believe his eyes. Sakura's jutsu had stopped his attack dead in its tracks. That had never happen before. His **Lightning Blade **was his most powerful jutsu, able to break through even the strongest of defenses. Yet Sakura's jutsu, a water Jutsu! Had stopped his attack, that shouldn't have been possible. Kakashi didn't have time to think about it as his jutsu dispersed along with his ninja dogs that held Zabuza since he was out of chakra. Sakura's shield also dispersed just as Haku's jutsu gave out and he collapsed unconscious in front of Zabuza.

"So my future is all used up hu? I guess your Gennin didn't get the memo" said Zabuza as he laughed at Kakashi. He then looked at Haku's unconscious form and glared. "Pathetic, couldn't you even handle that brat Haku? You're nothing but a useless tool if you can't even do what you're told." Zabuza was unable to continue as an angry voice interrupted him.

"You bastard!" everyone turned to see a livid looking Naruto. Kakashi was afraid that the fox's chakra might come out again by the look on his face." You and Haku have been together for years and that's how you thank him for nearly killing himself for you?"

"You don't understand the way of the shinobi. I only used him as a tool and he's only useful if he can complete the tasks that I give him. A broken tool is useless to me" said Zabuza.

"If you really mean that then you're a bigger asshole than I thought you were" said Naruto.

"Calm down Naruto" said Kakashi trying to calm the angry blond.

"SHUT UP! As far as I'm concerned this bastard is a pile of trash. You ungrateful bastard, after everything he's has done for you. Haku lives for you! You're the most important thing in the world for him. And you say he means nothing to you? He sacrifices everything for you every day of his life and that means nothing to you? He's thrown his whole life away, all for YOUR dream. He doesn't have a dream of his own and he doesn't even care because as long as he can help you achieve your dream he's happy. And you're willing to throw him away like he's nothing? That's so wrong, so wrong" said Naruto as tears came down his cheeks.

"You talk too much" said Zabuza in a pained voice. Naruto turned to look at him to se that he too was shedding tears. "Your words cut deep… Deeper that any blade. While he fought you his heart broke. You see Haku is too kind and soft. He feels pain and sorrow and curse him I feel them too, yet I feel content with it all the same." Zabuza then turned to Kakashi and said "We're done here, I won't go after the bridge builder anymore" he said but before Kakashi could respond someone else spoke.

"Is that so Zabuza?" everyone turned to see Gato standing at the end of the bridge standing in front of a small army of thugs caring various weapons." I guess it's a good thing that I decided to remove you from the payroll. But these guys aren't free so if you could kill a few before you die you would be doing me a favor" said the short bastard.

"Well this isn't good. Were all tired and almost out of chakra" Kakashi said.

"Not all of us" said Sakura getting everyone's attention." I'll take care of them" she said as she flew through hand sings" Water Style:** Water Shuriken Jutsu**" she said as the water around them rose into the air and took the shape of hundreds of shuriken. A second later all the shuriken rained down on Gato and his men not letting a single one of them escape. Gato himself got one right between the eyes ending the midget's life instantly. Only silence followed, everyone was in shock at what they had just seen the person they all considered the weakest of them do. Naruto did not consider Sakura weak but was in shock she just killed all those people. She slaughtered a small army without breaking a sweat. Zabuza was the first to recover.

"Wow Kakashi, looks like you were right. I better not piss off your brats or I'm likely to end up dead" he said in awe as he saw what Sakura could do.

Soon after that the villagers showed up lead by Inari ready to fight only to find out that the fight was already over. Sakura took the opportunity to go check on Sasuke and was happy to find out that he was alive and would soon wake up.

**XxX**

Several days later team seven stood on the newly fished bridge. Kakashi had agreed with Naruto and Sakura to let Zabuza and Haku go free since they were no longer a threat to the mission .That had really pissed off Sasuke who was still mad at Haku for beating him even after he awakened his Sharingan. Sakura had secretly healed most of Haku's injuries and they had left the previous day after saying goodbye to the group. Now as they prepared to leave Tazuna spoke to the team.

"We could never have finished the bridge without all of you. We all can't tell you enough how much we appreciate everything you have done for us or how much you will all be missed. Know that all of you will be forever welcomed to the Land of Waves as friends and heroes."

"Yeah so you better visit soon Naruto" said Inari as he tried hard not to cry.

"Don't worry we'll come back and visit real soon, believe it" said Naruto trying hard no to cry himself.

With their goodbye's said team seven turned around and headed home. As they made their way down the bridge Tazuna spoke.

"It was all his doing. That boy made you stronger Inari and in return you made all of us stronger. It was thanks to him that we were able to build a bridge to a place we never knew before, a place where we found our courage, a place to fulfill our dreams."

"Say speaking of the bridge, do you what we're going to name it?" asked one of the villagers.

"Yes of course, and I know the perfect name for it. We will name it The Great Naruto Bridge in honor of the one that changed our lives, the hero of our nation." Tazuna's suggestion was met with loud cheering from all the villagers.

**XxX**

As team seven made its way across the bridge Kakashi placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder causing all of them to stop.

"Sasuke, Naruto why don't you two go ahead I need to talk with Sakura alone for a minute."

Sasuke left without hesitation but Naruto hesitated. Only after Sakura gave him a smile of reassurance did he leave although he was still reluctant to do it.

"Is there a problem sensei?" she asked trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Kakashi turned to look at her and stared intently.

"Sakura where did you learn those jutsu you used on the bridge? I have never seen or heard of either of them before" asked Kakashi.

'_Crap! I knew this was coming. That's the reason I was avoiding being alone with him the last few days_' thought Sakura. Even with advance knowledge of the events on the bridge Sakura had acted on impulse and revealed some of her more advance jutsu. She messed up and she knew it, and now she had to deal with Kakashi trying to get information out of her." I learned them from a scroll" she said trying not to give anything away.

"Is that so? You wouldn't happen to have it with you would you? I would like to see it if I can" he asked.

"Sorry but I left it back in the village" she answered.

"Oh? Well where did you happen to find it?" he pressed.

"I found it in my family's belongings so I thought I'd learn them since I had water affinity" she said. Sakura was technically telling the truth. What she "forgot" to mention was that the scroll was currently in what would become her future family home.

"I thought you came from a civilian family. Where do you suppose they could have gotten that scroll from" he said.

"My great grandmother was married to a shinobi that fought during the first grate war so I guess she got it from him" she said hoping he would buy the lie; well it was mostly a lie since her grate grandmother never actually married the man.

"Well maybe you can show it to me when we get back home" he said.

"Yeah sure thing sensei" she said.'_ Yeah right sensei good luck getting into the Namikaze vault to get the Uzumaki clan scrolls'_ she thought. In the future Naruto had inherited all of his parent's belongings which included among other things a vast library of jutsu scrolls belonging to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans. Since Sakura had water affinity like many in Naruto's family from his mother's side he let Sakura learn whichever jutsu she wanted which greatly increased he knowledge of water jutsu.

"Ok then let's get to the others" he said and they both hurried to catch up to them.'_ There's no way that she's telling the truth. She's hiding something; I know it'_ thought Kakashi.' _I have to speak with the Hokage about this, there's something going on with her and I plan to get to the bottom of it'_ he thought as Sakura chatted away with Naruto.' _I'll find what your hiding Sakura. One way or another'_ thought Kakashi as the team continued to make their way home.

**XxX**

Well there you have it, the latest chapter is done. I want to thank everyone for your reviews and PM's, please continue to give me your thoughts or concerns. I try to answer as many questions as I can via pm or when I update the story. I love all the ideas and suggestions I get from all of you so if you think you have something that would work or you would like to see please let me know it and we'll see if it works for what I want for the story. As for Hinata please be patient as she will be more involved once the Chuunin exams start. Ok hope you like it, till next time see ya!


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

Hey everyone thanks for the reviews I appreciate it a lot. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far. Ok then here is the next chapter, enjoy.

**XxX**

**Chapter 9**

Shortly after returning to the Village Hidden in the Leafs team seven was directed to the Hokage tower which is where Kakashi and his team were as Kakashi finished giving his mission report.

"I see" said the Third Hokage. "It appears that you had a difficult mission Kakashi, I'm glad that everyone is back safely and that the mission was a success. All of you will receive a mission pay for an A rank mission."

"Hell yeah! That will buy me lots of ramen" yelled a happy Naruto.

"Ok we get it Naruto, settle down. Now all of you take the rest of the day off. Meet me tomorrow at our usual spot at 7:00 am sharp, now go" said Kakashi.

After the Gennin had left the room Kakashi turned to the Hokage and spoke. "Lord Hokage there's something I would like to speak to you about" he said.

"And what may that be Kakashi? Is it about Naruto?" asked the Hokage.

Kakashi thought about it and realized he completely forgot to tell the Hokage bout Naruto's incident with the fox. Oh well he would tell him later. "No it's actually about Sakura Haruno sir" he said.

The Hokage mentally groaned at this. "_Great, I wonder what he wants to complain about this time. What is the girl too smart for him or something? Last time he complained that the girl WASENT a fan-girl_' thought the Hokage. "Very well Kakashi, what do you wish to talk about".

"I'm worried about the way she's been acting Sir. I have seen her as she and Naruto train together and she shows knowledge that no Gennin should have no matter how gifted they may be. Her training methods are of very high caliber and her battle tactics are not those of a recently graduated Gennin, they are more like those of someone that has seen war and death. She slaughtered about 100 men and didn't even bat an eyelash. She acted like it was something she has been doing for years and that concerns me, she's hiding something, I know it" he said.

'_Interesting' _thought the Third. "May be we have another prodigy in our hands. You said she appears to have a gift for chakra control, and that she was interested in training as a medical ninja. Maybe she would be interested in some training with the Medical core" said the Third. "If we could train her to be a Kunoichi of Tsunade's caliber it would be of great benefit for the village". Yes the thought of a medic the level of Tsunade was something that had great appeal to the Hokage.

"That's not what I meant Sir. She is hiding secrets, I know it. I know over a thousand jutsu and not one of them could stop my Lightning Blade, not completely anyway. Sakura's jutsu, a water jutsu, stopped it dead in its tracks" he said.

This got the Hokage's attention. The Third Hokage was known to many as The God of Shinobi or The Professor. He knew even more jutsu than Kakashi and knew that they weren't many that could stop Kakashi's prized jutsu. Of all the jutsu he knew there was only one that was a water jutsu with enough defensive power to block the Lightning Blade, and even he could not perform that jutsu. The Hokage took a more serious demeanor and said "Did you happen to copy that jutsu?"

"Unfortunately no since she was out of my sight when she cast it, I was able to copy her second jutsu" said Kakashi.

"What are the names? You did catch those didn't you?" asked the Third.

"Yes the jutsu I was able to copy is Water Style: Water Shuriken Jutsu. The one I couldn't copy was Water Style: Tidal Shield Jutsu" said Kakashi. The Hokage's eyes grew wide with the naming of each jutsu. Kakashi could see the recognition and surprise in the Hokage's face. "Do you recognize the Jutsu Lord Hokage" asked Kakashi.

The Third removed his hat and began to rub the side of his head with one hand. "I do recognize them, they are both A rank water jutsu that she should have no way of knowing" said the Third. He stopped rubbing his head and crossed his hands in front of his face as he thought about what Kakashi had told him. He could see now why Kakashi was suspicious of the girl. How in the world could she know those jutsu? The only person he knew that could ever use them has been dead for years. "Where did she tell you that she learned these Jutsu?" asked the Third.

"She said she learned them from a scroll belonging to her family. Apparently her great grandmother was married to a Ninja during the first Great War and she got it from him. I was planning to asker to let me see it but I believe she's lying about it" said Kakashi.

"Don't bother asking her more about it. I will look into her family background and see what I'm able to find out. For now keep a close eye on her but don't confront her about it. I want to make sure that we have as much information as possible before we question her about it. Hopefully it won't be anything we have to worry about. From what you told me she and Naruto are getting close, I would hate to have to do something to separate the two of them" said the Third.

"Yes I haven't seen anything too compromising but I believe that their relationship is something more than juts friends and teammates" said Kakashi in a slightly perverted tone of voice.

"Very well keep me informed, for now go and get some rest you deserve it after such a mission" said the third. Kakashi bowed and was about to leave when the Hokage spoke to again. "Kakashi have you tried to perform the jutsu you copied from Sakura?"

Kakashi sighed and said "I tried to but for some reason I was unable to use the jutsu. My Sharingan was able to copy the signs and the way to mold the chakra but when I tried it was impossible for me to make it work. It has never happen before so I don't know what to tell you Sir".

"I see, it's just like I thought. The reason you were unable to use the jutsu is because it requires an incredibly high affinity to water. The only person that I have ever seen that was able to use those jutsu and only a handful of times was my old sensei The Second Hokage."

"The second? but if they were the Second Hokage's jutsu shouldn't they have been known to the leaf village? I have never heard of them before."

"The reason for that is because they were not originally his jutsu or from his clan. He never told me where he learned them, only that they were not his to give to anyone. He told me this when I asked him to teach them to me. Besides if you aren't able to do it then he was right and only someone with a high water affinity can perform them so they are useless to most of our ninja."

"I see, well then I will take my leave Sir" said Kakashi as he bowed once again and disappeared is a swirl of leaves.

**XxX**

Sasuke had left as soon as they left the Hokage tower without saying a word. Naruto and Sakura were making their way to Ichiraku's since Naruto could not wait to get ramen.

"Het Sakura you want to go do something after we get some ramen?" asked an exited Naruto.

"Sorry Naruto but I promised Hinata that I would meet up with her when I got back so I could tell her all about our mission" she said.

"Ahhh but I wanted to hang out with you today" wined Naruto.

"Well why don't you hang out with us today? I'm sure Hinata won't mind if you come."

"Eh no thanks, I think I'll just go and work on my chakra control" he said. What Naruto didn't tell Sakura was that the reason he didn't want to go was because Kiba pissed him off and Shino gave him the creeps.

"Fine then have it your way. I promise we'll do something together later ok?" When he still had a pout on his face she looked around to see if anyone was looking at them. When she saw nobody looking at them she leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. This shocked Naruto before he went into a dream like haze. Every time they kissed it felt wonderful to him. He had never been so happy before. He had a team and a girlfriend he loved and she loved him back. The only thing that worried him was that he had to tell Sakura about the stupid fox. It was a miracle that she didn't find out in wave and he knew he had to tell her soon, he feared that when she finds out that she would hate and fear him. The very thought of that scared him to death. He knew she needed to know but it didn't help him feel any better. He would tell her he promised himself. She loved him and she wouldn't leave him, or that's what he hoped at least. These were his thoughts as he made his way to Ichiraku's.

**XxX**

After having lunch Naruto and Sakura went their separate ways and she was now in team eight's usual training ground waiting for them to finish their practice.

"Great job everyone that was an excellent practice. Keep this up and I'll see about getting you a C rank mission" said Kurenai.

"But Kurenai sensei if Naruto's team can do a C rank mission then we should be able to handle one no problem. After all none of us are the dead last loser of the class like him" said Kiba with a smirk on his face.

Kiba's statement really pissed off Sakura, Hinata was also mad at her teammate but did a better job of hiding her feelings then Sakura, who got up with a pissed off look on her face.

"I wouldn't talk about Naruto like that Kiba; you have no idea of what he can really do. In fact from what I have seen you couldn't even beat ME in a spar much less beat Naruto" she said with a smirk of her own since she knew he would fall for her trap.

Like Sakura thought Kiba fell for it hook line and sinker. "As if a girl could ever beat me in a spar" he said.

"What was that Kiba?" came Kurenai's icy voice. Kiba turned to see his sensei glaring at him while Hinata had a hurt look on her face.

"It is illogical to think that gender alone can overcome skill, experience, and ability Kiba" Shino said as he pushed up his sunglasses.

"Well Kiba if you're so confident then why don't we make a little bet? You and I have a spar, you win and I'll do anything you want. However WHEN I win you have to do anything I say, deal?" asked Sakura confidently.

"Are you serious? You think that a fan-girl like you can beat ME? Ha Ha Ha, fine by me. When you lose you have to get Ino to go on a date with me" he said. That made everyone give him questioning looks, even Shino raised an eyebrow. "What? I happen to like blonds, and Ino is HOT" was his only answer.

Sakura shook her head; even she didn't see that one coming. "Fine whatever, but when you lose I get to cut off all your hair got it" she said.

"What? Why?" he whined. Kiba really liked his hair and didn't like the idea of being bald. That was like a dog having no hair, it was wrong, just wrong.

"Because it will look ridiculous that's why" she said. _'And it will serve you right for insulting MY man'_ she thought.

"Fine whatever it's not like I'm going to lose anyway" he said.

"Great, Kurenai sensei would you please proctor the match for us?" she asked.

"Ok but this is just a spar so if it gets out of hand I will put a stop it got it" said Kurenai. She was worried that Sakura would be hurt. She didn't know what Kakashi has been teaching his team but he is famous for being lazy. Kiba is strong and short tempered; she only hoped that the girl wouldn't get hurt. Kurenai had been worried when the pink haired girl showed up and befriended Hinata. From what she heard from Kiba and Shino the girl was obsessed with boys or should she say a certain boy. Kurenai was afraid she would be a bad influence on Hinata who already had issues to deal with as it was. Fortunately it had been for nothing, Hinata's friendship with Sakura had been nothing but positive. Hinata was more relaxed around the pink haired girl and had been coming out of her shell more. Sakura's encouragements had made Hinata trained harder and make vast improvements in her skill. She only hoped that this spar didn't do anything to ruin what has been so good for Hinata.

Kiba and Sakura took their positions on the field while Hinata, Shino and Akamaru who Kiba said he didn't need to beat a fan-girl stood near a tree to the side.

"Ok if both of you are ready" which was answered by both combatants nodding. "Begin!" yelled Kurenai.

Immediately Sakura took the standard academy Taijutsu stand which brought a frown to Kurenai's face and a smirk to Kiba's. "_Ha I knew she was all talk, I'm going to finish quickly. I can't wait to get my date with Ino'_ thought Kiba as he placed his hands together and said "Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry:** All Fours Jutsu**". Kiba became more feral as he went on all fours. His hair and teeth grew longer and sharper. His nails grew long and became claws. Sakura was not impressed since Naruto looked much scarier when he was using the fox's chakra.

"It appears that Kiba is going for the quick victory" said Shino in an emotionless voice.

'_I hope Sakura will be ok'_ thought Hinata.

Sakura just smirked at Kiba. When Kiba saw Sakura's smirk he growled as he disappeared in a blur and reappeared in front of Sakura as he delivered a powerful elbow to Sakura's sternum. Kiba smiled as he felt his attack connect expecting Sakura to be sent flying and land unconscious. What he didn't expect was that all that was sent flying was a log. "_ A log?" _was all Kiba thought before a fist connected with his face and sent him across the field landing in a world of hurt.

'_She performed a __**Substitution Jutsu**__ without hand signs and her timing was flawless. I guess that the pervert has actually been teaching her something'_ thought Kurenai.

Kiba rose slowly in a lot of pain. "_What the hell is she made of? I feel like I just got hit with a sledgehammer. If this is how hard she hits Naruto I feel sorry for the kid'_ thought Kiba. He finally straightened up to see Sakura standing in a few feet in front of him with her arms crossed in front of her chest in a very Naruto like fashion. Her grin never having left her face. "What? You think because you got one lucky shot that this match is over? I was going easy on you but now you're in for it" he yelled at the still grinning Sakura only to have her start laughing.

"Ha ha this match is already over and you don't even know it" she said as her body dissolved into Sakura blossoms.

'_What the hell?'_ thought Kiba as a swirl of wind surrounded him while the Sakura blossoms danced around him.'_ What is this? Where did she go? WHAIT this is…'_ he thought as Sakura's voice came from all around him.

"It's over" was all Kiba heard before his world went black. The Genjutsu dispelled to reveal Sakura standing over an unconscious Kiba with her hand still glowing green.

'_High level Genjutsu and Medical jutsu? Just what has Kakashi been teaching this girl?'_ thought Kurenai.

"Well guess I win hu?" said Sakura as the rest of team eight looked at her in shock." He he looks like I get to give Kiba a haircut" she said with a disturbing smile on her face as she pulls out a kunai.

"S-Sakura your n-not actually going to c-cut it are you?" asked Hinata.

"He insulted my teammate Hinata. Besides he could use this lesson not to underestimate your opponent. His attitude can get him and all of you killed in a mission if you're not careful" she said.

"Sakura is right Hinata. Kiba needs to learn to control his emotions and to not be so reckless" said Kurenai.

Hinata didn't looked too sure but she didn't complain as Sakura happily relieved Kiba of most of his hair.

**XxX**

After cutting Kiba's hair wile Akamaru wined the whole time Sakura and Hinata left for Hinata's favorite tea shop. Hinata told Sakura about the missions they had while she was gone and Sakura told Hinata of the mission to wave. She made sure to keep some things secret but told her most of it. "That's sounds exiting. I'm not sure that I would have done so well" said Hinata.

"Hinata you're a smart and strong kunoichi, I'm sure you would have done an amazing job. You only need to have more confidence in yourself and you will see just how amazing you really are" said Sakura. Hinata looked down and played with her fingers not convinced. "I know why don't train with me? With your Byakugan and chakra control I could teach you medical jutsu in no time" she said.

"Medical jutsu? How do you even know medical jutsu?" asked Hinata.

"Don't worry about it, we can meet at my teams training ground and I can start teaching you the basics" she said. Hinata reluctantly agreed to train with Sakura and they both left for the training ground.

**XxX**

As Sakura and Hinata were heading for the training ground Naruto was training near the hot springs. He and several of his clones were practicing water walking and he had been making grate progress when his training was interrupted by loud giggling. Naruto decided to look into it and followed the sound to see an old man with long spiky white hair peeking into the women's bath. If there is one thing that Naruto hates above all others, especially now that he has a cute girlfriend, it's defiantly perverts. That why he invented his anti-pervert jutsu which he was going to put to use on this guy. Naruto sneaked around while the old pervert continued to peek and giggle like a girl wile scribbling feverously on the little note pad he carried. He was so busy he never noticed Naruto get behind him.

Jiraiya had been having a great day. He had been traveling close by so he decided to sneak into the leaf village and pay a visit to the hot springs for a little "research". The Leaf Village after all had some of the most beautiful women you could ever find anywhere. He had been enjoying the wonderful view so much that he didn't notice that someone sneaked behind him. All of a sudden he heard someone yell out "**Sexy Jutsu**". Jiraiya turned to see a cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared the old pervert saw the most wonderful sight he had ever seen (well since the time he peeked at Tsunade but she almost killed him for that so it doesn't count). In front of him was a gift from Kami itself as far as Jiraiya was concerned. She was a gorgeous young blond girl with two long ponytails and cute whisker marks on her face. There were only small clouds of smoke covering her most privet areas much to the pervert's frustration. To Jiraiya she was the picture of female perfection, unfortunately for him he could only handle a few seconds of this godly sight before he was blasted back by the mother of all nose bleeds. It took all his willpower to stay conscious and did so only barely, when he heard a girly voice yell out "Oh no there's a pervert peeking into the girl's bath!" Jiraiya knew he had to leave but his body was slow to respond after losing so much blood. When he finally managed to sit up he felt a massive killer intent directed at him. He looked around to see he was surrounded by a bunch of pissed of women. Unfortunately for Jiraiya it appeared that several of them were ninja as they began to pull out several weapons from god knows were. The one with purple hair in a spiky ponytail and a huge rack was especially scary since she wore a disturbing smirk as she liked her kunai. Jiraiya could only whimper as the women came in for the kill and his world erupted into pain.

Naruto could only smile as he saw the women come down on the old pervert like a pack of angry wolves. As he walked away with a smile on his face, Naruto could hear the ungodly howls of pain coming from the pervert. '_Serves him right'_ he thought. With the thoughts of the pervert gone Naruto went back to his training, he was not looking forward to doing stupid D rank missions at all. Maybe if he complained he could get a better mission. Those were Naruto's thoughts as he finished his training.

**XxX**

The following morning after Kakashi finally showed up team seven made their way to the Hokage Tower to request their next mission. They were surprised to see that when they got there the Hokage was not alone. Kurenai and Hinata were there looking confused to see them as well.

"Ah Kakashi I'm glad your finally here" said the Third." I called all of you because earlier today we received word that a small village in the north western part of Fire Country was attacked by bandits. We are not sure but they may have some ninja training but it doesn't look like anything special. What we do know is that they burned the small village to the ground and killed nearly everyone in it. They did however take several prisoners, almost all of the young women and young girls are missing. We believe they were taken to be sold as slaves. That's means that they plan to head for The Land of Earth since it's the closest country that permits it. With the prisoners they will have to travel slowly especially if they want to travel in hiding. We cannot allow them to leave Fire Country. Your team should have enough time to intercept the group and rescue the people taken. Their safety is top priority but don't let the ones responsible for this get away, we must show that this kind of thing will not be tolerated by the Leaf"

"So we are to hunt them down and rescue the prisoners and take out the bandits as well?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes, I originally had intended to give this mission to Kurenai's team since her team is built for this type of missions. However there were some unforeseen complications" said the Hokage.

"Unfortunately Shino had to leave yesterday for an emergency mission with his clan. And Kiba is taking some time off to deal with a… shall we say traumatic experience he had yesterday" said Kurenai as she noticed the smirk on Sakura's face.

"So my team is to deal with this mission then?" asked Kakashi.

"Your team yes, you on the other hand will go on a solo information gathering mission in regards to the discussion we had yesterday" said the Hokage. "Your Gennin will go with Kurenai and her student and will complete this mission."

Kakashi was a bit reluctant to let his team go without him but this was a chance to get to the bottom of Sakura's secret. With Kurenai with them at least they would be in good hands. "Very well Lord Hokage" he said.

"Great, team seven will be under Kurenai's command and will join her and Hinata on this mission, you all have one hour to get ready and meet in the front gates. Dismissed!" said the third.

After they had left Kakashi looked at the third." Where will I be going on my mission Sir?" asked Kakashi.

"I have looked into the Haruno family and it looks like they came from a small village in the far southern part of Fire Country. At least that's as far as we can figure, you are to go there and find out anything you can about them and were they came from. More importantly find out anything you can about Sakura's great grandmother. I want to know everything about her and her supposed husband" said the Hokage.

"I understand Sir" said Kakashi. He then left in a swirl of leaves.

The Hokage turned and looked at the picture of his former sensei. The towns were the Haruno's appear to come from is one that he and his sensei once visited during the war. Something told him that his sensei was somehow involved but the old Hokage could not for the life of him tell how that could be. He would just have to wait and see what Kakashi finds out. With that the Third returned to his paperwork.

**XxX**

Well that it for chapter nine. Sorry for the wait but work has been hectic for the last couple of weeks. Anyway let me know what you think please review or PM me with any ideas you might like or that you think might improve the story. Till next chapter see yah!


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Bijju/summon**"

I would like to apologize to everyone for the long time it has been for the update. Unfortunately it has been a difficult time for me since the last time I updated my story. On the last week of February my family received news that my eldest brother had been killed in a car accident. The news was hard for me and my family to take but my mother took the lost of her first born child especially hard. She had to be hospitalized herself and although it was thankfully only briefly it could have been far more serious than it was. Because of this my siblings and I have tried to spend as much time with my parents as possible in the last couple of months. Between work and spending time with my family I'm afraid that I have had little time to spend on fanfiction. I enjoy reading and writing but family always comes first and it's been a difficult time for my family. Fortunately things appear to be going towards normality lately. My updates may be slow the next month or so but I will be updating as soon as I can.

Now last chapter a few people have mentioned that they think Sakura is too strong in the story. Personally I think she just has been more efficient. With the exception of wave, the battles she has won have been because her opponents underestimate her more than anything else. However you have to remember that she **IS** a **KAGE **level ninja in experience and knowledge. Her body may not be at her physical prime but she is still stronger than any Gennin with Gara and Naruto being the exception if they use their bijju. I think that skill and strategy will beat raw strength more times than not, that's why I like Shino and Shikamaru.

Ok lets get on with the story and please review with any thoughts that you think my help, I take all advice into consideration so let me know what you like or don't like. Ok them next chapter.

**XxX**

**Chapter 10**

In a clearing deep in the northern part of Fire Country Kurenai Yui sat waiting for her tea m to arrive at the selected meeting place. She and her team had traveled for two days at full ninja speed to reach the village that had been attacked. When they got there they saw it in ruins, most buildings were burned down or destroyed beyond repair. They had picked up the bandits tracks and went on pursuit immediately. After hours of tracking Kurenai felt they were close to their targets, when the tracks they had been fowling suddenly disappeared. They had split up in to groups with Sasuke and Hinata going one way and Sakura and Naruto going another wile she went by herself. She had looked careful but found nothing and hoped that the Gennin had better luck. As a woman she felt even more determent to save the young women and girls that were taken. She knew exactly what horrible fates awaited them if the bandits escaped with them into Erath Country. She would do anything in her power to stop that and to punish the bastards responsible for taking them. She was brought out of her thoughts as four people landed in the clearing in front of her. Kurenai stood up from the tree stump she was sitting on and addressed the Gennin." I'm glad you all finally made it, I was beginning to worry. Now that were all here lets hear what we found out. I myself was unable to find anything so I'm interested to hear what you all found out" she said.

Sakura was the first to answer."Naruto and I looked everywhere we could towards the east but we couldn't find any trace of them. No tracks or any other signs of them" she said obviously not happy about it. Naruto looked even more upset because even after summoning 100 clones he couldn't find a thing.

"I see that's unfortunate "said Kurenai then turned to Sasuke and Hinata and asked."Did you find anything?"

Sasuke who had a slight smirk on his face answered" Well unlike the loser we were able to find something" he said with a smug look on his face." With the Hyuga's Byakugan we were able to find some hidden tracks" he said then looked at Kurenai." Tracks too well hidden for mere bandits" he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The tracks were hidden under a Genjutsu. One that could no be seen without my Sharingan or the Hyuga's Byakugan. Obviously it's not something that mere bandits can do" he said.

"The Hokage said they appeared to have some ninja training but he didn't believe it was anything to worry about. It's likely they have a Gennin or Chuunin that went rouge with them. If it was a ninja of higher caliber the witnesses that escaped would have noticed him." She looked at Hinata and asked" how fresh did the tracks look Hinata?"

Hinata began to play with her fingers before she said" T-they appeared to have been m-made recently. I would say l-less then a day ago" she said with a blush on her face.

"That's great! It means if we hurry we can catch them" said Naruto.

"No, we have been going at full speed with little sleep or rest for two days. Maybe we could catch them but it would be in the middle of the night if we are lucky and we would be exhausted" said Kurenai.

"But I can go for days, I'm not even close to being tired" wined Naruto.

"Maybe you can but the rest of us need to rest" she pressed. She could tell that Naruto was going to argue more so she cut him of."Look Naruto I know you want to help those people but we need to be prepared. If we pressed on and we did reach them tonight what do you think would happen if they were stronger than we think they are? Or if they have a larger force then what we believe them to have? We would be overwhelmed because we are too tired to fight "she said. Naruto's shoulders slumped down and looked down defeated. Naruto knew she was right but he didn't have to like it. Kurenai looked at him and thought she could compromise with him a little." Tell you what, since there are still a few hours of daylight left we'll continue for a couple of hours then set up camp. We'll continue to travel again first thing in the morning ok" she said.

Naruto immediately perked up. Sakura and Hinata smiled seeing him act like his usual self. He had been very quite and withdrawn. Sakura knew it meant he had something on his mind. What ever it was she could tell it was important so she gave him some space until he was ready to talk to her. Hinata who had never seen Naruto like that was worried. Naruto had always been happy and confident, he was always sure of himself. Even when things were hard he always got up and did so with a smile on his face. But for the last two days he's been sad or upset about something. Hinata wanted to help him but didn't know how.

"Ok the travel formation will be this. Sakura and Sasuke will take the front. I will take the center and Hinata and Naruto will take the rear" said Kurenai. They quickly got into formation and began to travel. They traveled close enough to provide backup but far enough so they couldn't all be caught if an enemy tried an ambush. As they traveled Hinata saw that Naruto still looked very depressed or even worried?

Hinata mustered her courage and spoke up," Um N-Naruto". Naruto barely heard the soft voice of the girl beside him but turned to look at her. Hinata could fell her face heating up but would not stop now that she started." Y-you seem like s-something is bothering y-you, are you o-ok?" she asked. Hinata cursed herself for stuttering. She had gotten better with Sakura's help and would almost never do it anymore but with Naruto she just couldn't help it.

Naruto looked at the blue haired girl next to him confused. She had asked if he was ok, but should he tell her or just say he's ok. He really needed to tell Sakura about the Fox but was not sure what to do." Hinata can I ask you a question?" he asked. Hinata made a small squeaking sound before her face got redder but gave him a small nod." Well I have something that I have to tell someone, someone that's very important to me. What I have to say, it's not something that I chose or something that I can change. It's something that makes me different and I'm not sure what that person will think. Have you ever had someone that you wanted to tell something but were to afraid of what that person would say or think of you?" he asked.

Hinata felt a lump in her mouth go dry as she tried to calm herself. She didn't know what to say. She could see that Naruto was worried about something and she wanted to help him. What ever secret he was talking about it was important. She knew exactly how he felt since it was how she felt about her feelings for him. She was afraid that he would reject her if she told him she loved him. Hinata took a deep breath calm her self and with an eerie calmness she answered." I think I know exactly how you feel. You see I also have someone that I is very precious to me, someone that I want to tell something important. But I haven't been able to find the strength to tell them. I'm also afraid, afraid of what they might say or what they will think. Yes I know exactly how you feel."

Naruto thought that it was how he felt. He was afraid of what Sakura would think or say when he told her his secret. He didn't think he could do either, he was so afraid to lose the happiness he finally had. Afraid of being alone again, he couldn't go back to that loneliness.

"I have hope that one day I will have the courage to tell my precious person my feelings" she said getting Naruto's attention. "Because to me that person is worth the risk, even if it would hurt to have that person reject me. How can I consider myself worthy to be accepted by him if I can't even tell him how I feel" she said.

Naruto thought about what Hinata said. She was right, if he was too afraid to even tell her he didn't deserve to be with her. He had to trust her and how she felt for him. He loved her and he had to believe she loved him too. He turned to look at Hinata and saw she had a thoughtful look on her face." Thanks a lot Hinata I think I know what to do now" he said. The girl next to him gave him a small smile that he returned with one of his own. Hinata was glad she was able to help Naruto. She was disappointed she wasn't able to tell Naruto that it was him she was talking about but at least she was able to help him feel better. Hinata felt like she got closer to him even if it was only a little.

**XxX**

The team continued to travel for a few hours before setting up camp for the night. Sakura was standing on watch after relieving Hinata. After a few minutes she saw Naruto come out of the boy's tent and walk towards her. She could he was still nervous about something but was glad he had been more like his usual self lately. She noticed that as they were travailing he had gone to acting more like his usual happy self. When she would look back at him as they were traveling she would see him talking and laughing excitedly to a blushing Hinata. Sakura didn't know what happened but she was glad that he wasn't depressed anymore.

"Hey Naruto what are you doing up? Your not suppose to relieve me for three more hours" she said.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and said" well I really couldn't sleep so I thought I would keep you company." Sakura raised an eyebrow at that. Naruto never had a problem sleeping unless there was something very serious on his mind. She was about to ask when he started talking gain." I actually wanted to talk to you about something, something important. But I guess we can wait till later, I don't want anyone hearing what we talk about". This was a real surprise for Sakura. What ever he wanted to talk about was something important, she wondered what that could possibly be.

"Then maybe you should keep that loud mouth of yours shut loser" came a voice from behind Naruto. Apparently neither of them noticed Sasuke get out of the tent after Naruto.

"Sasuke? What are you doing up?" asked Sakura.

"Like I could sleep with Naruto tossing and turning on top of talking to himself" he said.

"What! I don't do that" replied Naruto.

"Yes you do loser and I'm not going to put up with it the whole mission. So what ever you two need to talk about go and get it over with so you can let me sleep" he said.

"But I'm on watch and we can't just leave camp" said Sakura.

"What ever, I'll take over your shift and you and the moron can go talk somewere and come right back. Its not like it's a big deal" he said.

"Sakura I found a small lake a few miles from here when I went out to find some water, we could go there and talk and be back in time for me to take over for him" Naruto said.

"Ok I guess that should be ok. Let's go Naruto" she said as she picked up her pack. As they were leaving the camp Naruto turned around and looked at Sasuke.

"Thanks a lot Sasuke". Sasuke grunted something that sounded like "what ever" before he turned back to keeping watch.

**XxX**

After traveling in silence Naruto and Sakura arrived at the location that Naruto talked about. It was a small lake that was fed by a waterfall. Naruto was more nervous and scared than he had ever been in his whole life. He walked to the water's edge and wasn't sure if he was going to be able to really do it. But then he remembered the talk he had with Hinata, her words gave him the resolve he needed to do it. He turned around to see that Sakura was looking at him intently. She noticed how serious he was but could not think of what this could be about. She went trough her head about everything she knew that happened around this time but could not think of anything that could have him this wound up. She saw him turn around and look at her with a determent look in his eyes.

"Sakura… There's something I need to tell you, something important" he said.

"Ok so what do you need to tell me Naruto" she said.

"Its… Its about me. There's something about me I have to tell you. Something that might make you afraid of me or even hate me. But its something you need to know if were going to be together" he said.

Sakura's mind was racing to what he could possibly be talking about until she saw him place a hand on his stomach. That is when it hit her like a bolt of lightning. The Fox! She had thought nothing about it because to Sakura it had been as much a part of him as his blond hair or blue eyes. It was just a part of him that has always been with him. She had been at Naruto's side for so long that the Fox was as common to her as it was to him. She only realized that in this time it wasn't so. That's why he had been so upset, he was afraid of what she would think.

"I was born on the day the Nine Tailed Fox attacked our village. That is no big secret but there is a secret that no one in our generation knows about. The Third Hokage made a law that said that anyone who spoke about it would be considered a traitor and be put to death."

"Then maybe you shouldn't tell me or you could get in trouble" she said playing along.

Naruto shook his head and said "I'm the only one allowed to speak bout it because the secret is about me, about me and the Nine Tailed Fox." Sakura gave him a small nod and he continued."The Fox was said to have been killed by the Fourth Hokage, which was a lie fabricated to keep this secret from our generation. The Fox was too powerful to have been killed."

"If the Fox wasn't killed then what happened to it?" she asked trying to help him along.

Naruto took a deep breath before he continued."Because the Fourth could not kill it, he did the only other thing he could do. He sealed it. But because it was so powerful it couldn't be sealed in just anything, it had to be sealed in a living being. Only a newborn baby could be used as the container of the Fox. And I was the only one born that day, I hold the Nine Tailed Fox inside of me" he said. Naruto closed his eyes waiting for Sakura's response. He was afraid to meet her eyes, afraid to see the same fear and look of hate and disgust he always saw in the eyes of the villagers. He waited for what felt like an eternity, fear griped his heart. Naruto then felt a pair of slim arms wrap around him. His eyes shot open to see that Sakura was embracing him in a warm hug. His eyes watered as he could actually feel the love she was trying so hard to convey to him.

"Thank you Naruto. Thank you for trusting me wit you're secret. I want you to know that this doesn't matter to me. You will always be the same Naruto to me. My Naruto, the goofball that I fell in love with" she said. She released him only enough for him to look in her eyes. Naruto looked into her shining emerald orbs. Naruto loved her eyes; he had seen so many different emotions displayed in her eyes. From burning rage to incredible happiness, but nothing like what he saw now. He only saw love, unconditional love. Naruto had never been happier in his life. Sakura loved him even after knowing about the Fox. He couldn't help himself; he wrapped his arms around her small waist and pressed her against him. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck and together they both leaned in and pressed their lips against each other's. It was a kiss like no other they ever had. It was a kiss that truly showed how much they loved each other and they showed it with everything they had.

**XxX**

They had stayed in that clearing just holding each other looking at the moon's reflection on the water. It was so perfect neither of them wanted it to end. Sakura was about to tell him that they should really be heading back when she felt him tense up.

"What's wrong Naruto?" she asked.

"Sakura do you smell something burning?" he asked.

"No I don't smell anything why?" she asked confused.

Naruto got up from were they had been sitting and looked towards the direction of the camp. Because it was the middle of the night it was easy to see that there was light and smoke coming from the trees were the camp would be.

"Dam it! Sakura something is wrong. We have to get back now!" he yelled. Sakura didn't bother to ask she simply nodded and they both set off at top speed towards the camp. It took them only a few minutes to get there at that speed and what they saw when they got there shocked them.

The camp was completely destroyed. Several trees were on fire and there were signs of battle everywhere. But what had them worried the most was that they couldn't see anyone anywhere. Naruto made dozens of shadow clones and told them to look around and search for the team. It didn't take long to find someone sitting against one of the trees, it was Sasuke. He was out cold badly injured. Sakura began to administer healing jutsu to help him.

"He's in bad shape. His right arm is broken and has several cracked ribs. I stopped the internal bleeding but he will need some time before he can move. I can heal his bones but he wont be in any shape to fight for a wile." She turned to look at Naruto and asked "have you found Hinata or Kurenai sensei yet?"

Naruto shook his head." I haven't found them but I think I found the trail of were the ones who did this went, they didn't bother to cover up there tracks. Looks like there was only one or two of them, I'm sure of it" he said. "But there's no way that" he was cut off by a horse voice.

"There were only two of them. They took Kurenai sensei and Hinata" he said.

They both turned to see that Sasuke was awake.

"What the hell happened and who took them?" yelled Naruto.

"I don't know who they were. They were two ninjas, they were wearing headbands from the Hidden Stone Village but had the sing crossed out. They looked like twins and had this strange jutsu. Kurenai sensei took on one and we took the other. The Hyuga's attacks were useless and my jutsu didn't even scratch him. I threw everything I had at the bastard but his jutsu turned his skin into some kind of armor. My Sharingan couldn't even copy it" he said in anger.

"I think I know who they are" said Sakura. Naruto and Sasuke turned to see her flipping through a book.

"What is that Sakura?" asked a confused Naruto.

"It's a bingo book Naruto" she said without looking up.

"How did you get a bingo book?" he asked still confused.

"We are ninja Naruto. That means we can buy any ninja related items from the ninja stores in the village. I got one because it doesn't hurt to have one on us. I found them, is this who attacked you?" she asked showing them the picture inside the book. The book showed a pair of twins in there early thirties. They were both bald with the exception of a long braided ponytail that reached their lower back. They were wearing what looked like a standard Jonin uniform for the hidden Stone Village.

"They were wearing different clothes and looked older but yeah that's them alright" said Sasuke.

Sakura looked at the book and began to read the information on them."There names are Ichiro and Jiro Ishikawa. They are B ranked missing ninja from the Hidden Stone Village. They are known as the Twin Golems of the Hidden Stone. They have rare blood limit that can make there skin as strong as granite, it protects them from most Ninjutsu and Taijutsu attacks. The Ishikawa clan is only weak against Genjutsu but unlike most of the clan, the twins studied under some of the Stone Village's Genjutsu masters to overcome that weakness. Its says they left the Village a few years ago for some unknown reasons" she said.

"So what do we do now? I can't fight with this bad arm" said Sasuke.

"We have to go after them. Even at a slow pace, they would cross the border within two days. We can't wait for back up" said Sakura.

"So let's go after them "yelled Naruto. When Sasuke made to get up Sakura stopped him.

"No Sasuke, you're in no condition to fight. I'll leave a shadow clone to work on your injures but you have to stay here. If we fail you have to be able to send word to the village of what happened" she said. Sasuke didn't like it but reluctantly agreed with her plan.

After making the clone Sakura took a soldier pill she made and they took off after the kidnappers. They only hoped they weren't too late to save there friend and her sensei.

**XxX**

Well there you have it that the chapter. Let me know what you think. I will try to update as soon as I can but please bear with me. I'm still trying to get back to my normal routine. Till next time see ya!


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

First I would like to apologize for the late update. I have been busy with work and haven't had the time to work on my story as much as I would like. Also what slowed me down was a major case of writers block. Writing this chapter was HARD. I was getting frustrated while working on this chapter. Finally a friend advised me to take a break or work on something else for a while. I took the advice and started working on a story I had been meaning to start for a while. I was surprised that the ideas for the first few chapters came pretty easy. Once I had the first chapter done I started working on this one again. It helped taking a break and I was able to get this chapter done.

I had my friend JS help with the grammar/spelling so hopefully the errors will be down to a minimum. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you all think.

**XxX**

**Chapter 11**

Naruto and Sakura traveled at full speed following the kidnapper's trail, it wasn't very difficult; the culprits hadn't bothered to cover their tracks after the battle.

"Sakura, the clone I sent to scout ahead just dispelled itself. The camp is not too far ahead".

Once they were close Naruto and Sakura slowed down and stealthily crept towards the camp. The camp itself wasn't much to look at; it was just a few tents and fires. There were twenty to thirty bandits all around the camp. They were all eating, drinking and/or gambling. The women were all huddled together at the edge of the camp next to what looked like the leader's tent. Many of the younger girls were quietly sobbing while some of the older ones were trying to comfort them. Thankfully none of them looked injured.

"I don't see either of them; do you?" asked Sakura in a worried whisper.

"No, but my clone saw them get taken inside the large tent next to all the women" said Naruto.

"Ok then, to get them we have to take out the bandits first. We have to do it quickly if we are going to have a chance. We can't fight bandits and the ninja at the same time" she said, already developing a plan.

"So we go in and knock out the bandits quickly and then go rescue..."

For the

"NO!" she whispered, sharply getting his attention.

Naruto turned to look at her. He saw an intense look in her emerald green eyes. "But you just said…"

"I said we take them out! And I meant permanently".

"You mean k-kill them? But I can't! I have never…"

"Naruto! We are outnumbered and outclassed. We can't go in there halfheartedly".

"I know that, but I don't know if I can" he said.

Sakura saw him look down sadly. It was hard for her to see him like this. The Naruto she knew never hesitated to put down an enemy that threatens the people he cared about. She had to remind herself that this Naruto was still a 12 year old Gennin that has never been forced to take a human life before. She knew that the first kill was the hardest to cope with. For Naruto it was even worse, he had a bloodthirsty demon inside of him. That was the reason he was really worried. It wasn't that he was afraid he would feel bad for taking a life, he would almost welcome that. No what really scared him was that he wouldn't feel anything for taking a life, or worse that he would enjoy it. That he would love to kill and become the monster inside of him.

"Naruto. I know it's not easy, and I know you don't want to. Believe me I don't enjoy killing others either" she said her voice full of sympathy.

Naruto looked up to see into her eyes. He saw as the look turned from one of sympathy to one of steeled determination. The chill in her voice when she spoke next sent a shiver down his spine.

"But the bastards out there are NOT people! They are the MONSTERS, not us. They came into OUR country and attacked one of OUR villages. The people in that village never hurt them, never hurt anyone. They were living their lives in peace until those monsters came. You saw what they did to that village. Look at those poor girls over there" she said pointing at the group of terrified women.

Naruto couldn't help himself. He looked, really looked, for the first time. He saw the fear, pain and sorrow in their eyes. The helplessness he saw there twisted in his heart like the point of a kunai. It was the look he often had as a child because he hadn't understood why everyone hated him. It was a look he hid from everyone but he remembered how he felt nonetheless.

"Those women had to watch as those beasts burned down their homes; as they killed their families. They had to see their fathers, brothers, and husbands killed before their eyes. Then they were dragged from their home in chains like animals; and all for what! All that pain and suffering happened just to satisfy those monsters' greed". Sakura tried to calm her rapid breathing before she finally asked. "Do I need to tell you what will happen to them if we don't help them escape"? She said it in a low whisper but Naruto heard it.

Naruto didn't need her to tell him what would happen to those women. Naruto may be clueless about many things, but this was not one of them. He knew what perverse monsters men could be. It was one of the reasons he hated perverts with a passion.

Sakura could see the internal struggle that Naruto was fighting. She knew what she had to do even if she hated to use his feelings to manipulate him. "They are going to sell them like pieces of meat. They will live a life of slavery, and now they have taken Kurenai sensei and Hinata too. They plan on doing that to them as well".

That seemed to get Naruto's complete attention; Kurenai sensei had been nice to him. She didn't ignore him like Kakashi did sometimes. She didn't yell at him like the teachers at the academy. Hinata had also been very nice to him. Even if he never really spoke to her in the academy, he knew that Hinata had never been mean to him. She never laughed at him or put him down. Hinata never called him stupid or glared at him for walking by. No; in fact Naruto didn't think Hinata had it in her to be mean to anybody, she didn't have a mean bone in her body. Even though they never really talked before this mission, Hinata had helped him gain the strength to tell Sakura about the Demon-Fox. Hinata was probably the nicest girl Naruto ever met. The thought of what would happen to her if these people got away made his stomach turn.

Sakura saw Naruto clench his teeth and his hands ball into white-knuckled fists; the enormity of the situation was finally sinking in, he just needed one final push. "What would you do if it was me that had been taken?" she asked in a mournful tone. She was ashamed of manipulating him like this, but it was the only way.

Naruto's head snapped up to look into Sakura's eyes. Naruto's eyes flickered between blue and red as he tried to contain his growing rage. When they'd settled into the catlike red eyes he answers her in the voice she had heard many times before. "**I'd tear them apart!**" he growls at her.

Sakura nodded her head. "That's what we'll do. We'll make them regret ever setting foot in that village. And we will make sure that they never hurt anyone ever again. This is what I have planned so listen up ok".

**XxX**

In the leader's tent the unconscious Kurenai and Hinata were now both in chains, their captors already discussing what their fate would be.

"I can't believe how lucky we are. Not only did the leaf send a weak Gennin team, but they were stupid enough to send an unmarked Hyuuga as well" said Ichiro. Ichiro was the older twin and like his brother was a huge man, standing over six feet tall. He wore dark brown ninja pants and a small deep green vest that was over his shirtless chest. His brother wore the same style of clothing with only a grey sash around his waist being the difference between them.

"What's so special about that little girl? She was pathetic and weak. The other brat was more of a challenge than this one. And why didn't we look for the other one? What if he sends word to the leaf?" asked Jiro, rather annoyed at his brother's careless attitude.

"It won't matter because we'll be long gone before they can get here. And, my dear brother, what is so special about this girl is not how strong she is, but the powerful bloodline she carries. Her eyes are so valuable that the Cloud Village risked going to war against the Leaf over it".

Jiro shook his head in disbelief. "Why would they care for such a useless bloodline? It wasn't any use against ours was it?" he asked smugly.

"It doesn't matter to me as long as we get paid. And the money we'll get for her alone is many times what we'll get for all the rest put together" said Ichiro, greed evident in his words.

"And what do we do with the woman? Do we chain her up with the rest of the others?" he asked his brother.

Ichiro turned to look at Kurenai with a slightly disappointed look. "No we can't. No matter how weak she may be, she is still a Jonin. The moment we hand her over to the slave market she will escape. If she makes it to her village it would bring us a lot of problems with the Leaf. Unlike the Stone that placed a pathetic rank and bounty on us, the one the Leaf would place would have us dealing with too many hunter ninjas to be able to make any money".

"So what then? We could have just killed her in the camp and been done with it".

"It's a real shame. A woman that good looking would have sold for a lot at the market. Just give her to the men and let them have their fun with her before we kill her. They have been restless since we haven't let them touch any of the women from the village. This one should make them happy; for a while anyway" said Ichiro.

Jiro nodded to his brother. "The fools would damage them too much and we wouldn't get paid much for them. If they want one that bad they can always use the part of their cut to buy one in the market". He then moved to pick up Kurenai when a series of explosions shook the camp. This was followed by a cacophony of women screaming and the men yelling and shouting.

**XxX**

The twins rushed outside to a scene that shocked them. A sea of orange blurs flooded the entire camp. All they could do was look on in mild shock as the blurs appeared and disappeared leaving only the dead or dying bandits where they passed. Ichiro snapped out of it and turned to see that all the women were gone, only the dead bodies of the men guarding them remained.

"Dammit!" He yelled as he turned back to the camp already flashing through hand sings. **Earth style: Earth Avalanche Jutsu**" he yelled as he stomped his foot on the ground. When his foot connected a wave of dirt and small stones, some fallen branches amongst them, rose up in front of him and shot forward, tearing everything in its way apart. When the Jutsu finished there was nothing left of the camp, it was just another area of freshly churned soil. Ichiro turned to his brother. "I'm taking the Hyuuga and leaving. Take care of anyone left and meet me at the border". Without waiting for an answer he turned and rushed inside the tent, emerging a few moments later with Hinata slumped over his shoulders. "I'm leaving" he said and turned towards the forest.

"The hell you are bastard."

The twins turned simultaneously as two figures landed in front of them. This was another shock to the twins; they had been expecting more reinforcements from the Leaf. Even hunter ninja from Stone, but instead it was a pair of brats with no apparent fashion sense. One was a small pink haired girl wearing a bright red battle dress. The other was an even shorter blond boy wearing a horrendous orange jumpsuit. Seriously what the hell are they teaching these kids in the Leaf village about blending in?

"Are you kidding me? It's only a pair of brats!" said Jiro.

Ichiro was scanning the surrounding forest for more enemies; these two could just be decoys after all. "Then just deal with them and hurry" he said as he jumped towards the treetops heading for the Earth and Fire countries' borders.

"Hey! Get back here!" yelled Naruto as he jumped after him.

"No you don't kid" said Jiro as he appeared in front of Naruto, fist cocked back, ready to deliver a powerful punch. Before he could deliver the blow a fist connected with his face, sending him crashing into a nearby tree.

"Go Naruto! I'll deal with this one and back you up as soon as I can. We can't let them get Hinata across the border".

"Right! I won't let that jerk take her!" he said, moving towards the trees. Before leaving he turned back to Sakura and said "be careful" then launched himself after his target.

"You be careful" she whispered as she turned to her opponent.

Jiro could not believe what happened. He had never been hit so hard in his life, at least not without having his bloodline active. That really hurt! He slowly got to his feet and turned towards the brats only to see that the blond one was gone; probably to go after his brother. Great, he sighed mentally, he was never going to hear the end of this one. "That hurt little girl" he said rubbing his sore jaw. "I'd like to see you try that again" he said as he activated his bloodline. Jiro's normally tan skin began to shift to a pale gray/white color making him look like a living statue.

Sakura watched as her opponent got up and instantly activated his bloodline. She knew that if he was able to nullify the Gentle Fist then medical Jutsu was useless. Her Genjutsu was good but she was not a master like Kurenai, if she was beaten then that was no good either. Once again she cursed the weakness of her current body, if she was in her older body she could pound this guy in to rubble but her current body lacked the power for it. Sakura was brought back to her immediate situation when she saw Jiro jump at her and try to connect with an axe kick. She was able to easily evade the attack and noticed two things. One was that he made a large crater…so his strength has increased dramatically. And second was that his speed had been lowered just as much. His bloodline must make his body weigh much more, slowing him dramatically. It's too bad she didn't have any long distance Jutsu that would have any effect on his armor.

Jiro saw the girl avoid his kick and noted her speed. Oh well, another inward sigh, he was going to use his Ninjutsu after all. He went through hand signs and shouted "**Earth Style: Earth Spikes**".

Sakura felt the movement beneath her feet and jumped just as the spikes of earth shot out of the ground ready to impale her._ "That was a close one,"_ she thought.

"Your pretty fast for a brat" sneered Jiro. "But I hope you don't think you actually have a chance of beating me." Jiro closed in on Sakura and tried to connect with a punch but Sakura was too agile for him to connect. His large size made it harder for him to hit the smaller, faster girl.

Sakura was trying to figure out how she was going to take down her opponent and could see his mounting frustration as his primitive taijutsu was failing miserably.

"That's it! I'm not wasting more time with you little girl" he yelled. "**Earth Style: Earth Clone Jutsu**".

Before Sakura could react three earth clones rose from the ground around her. "_Damn! I have to think of something, and fast!" _she thought. The clones wasted no time before attacking. The first to attack missed, a slow punch, easily dodged. The second tried a kick that only her advanced reflexes allowed her to evade. The third attack proved to be too much for her to avoid and landed solidly, a powerful kick to her left side that sent her stumbling to the ground in pain.

" Ha ha, do you see now little girl. This is the difference between a brat like you and a real Ninja like me".

Sakura stood shakily. That hit had been painful but nothing worse than what Tsunade had done in her training. She looked up to see the clones charge at her. This time she was ready. They threw kicks and punches at her, Sakura's training with Naruto allowed her to avoid the clones…it wasn't easy. As she continued to dodge the clones' attacks she felt a familiar rumbling on the ground before several earth spikes shot out of the ground. Sakura avoided all except the last one, which managed to graze her right side just above her right hip. A panting Sakura crouched to her knees, her hand glowing with green chakra as she tried to heal her bleeding wound. She was happy to see that though the last attack damaged her, it had taken out the clones as well. She looked at her opponent to see if he was bothered by the loss of his clones; he was wearing a big grin on his face.

"It looks like you just about reached your limit girl. Why don't I put you out of your misery" he said as he sent more earth spikes at her.

Sakura knew she had to act fast, the more time she wasted here the more time Naruto and Hinata were in danger. She knew Naruto was strong but at his current level he was no match for and experienced Jonin. "_I have to try something, but what?"_ she thought as she evaded another set of spikes. Finally thinking of something, "_here goes nothing"._

"Release!" she said as she made a single hand sign. The reaction was instantaneous, the seals in the sweatbands she was wearing on her wrists and ankles began to glow as the chakra stored in them was released all at once.

Jiro watched as the girl that had been dodging his attacks was engulfed in chakra. He could not believe such a small and weak looking girl could produce so much chakra that he could see it surround her. "_Impossible! She was on her last leg. I had her beaten! Where is all this chakra coming from?_" he thought.

"Sorry, but I don't have any more time to waste here. I have friends that need my help". She said as she began going through hand signs. Jiro took a defensive stance in preparation for her attack.

"**Earth Style: Diamond Dust Jutsu**" Sakura slammed her hands to the ground and watched as the ground in front of her began to glow. Slowly at first but then with increasing speed a white cloud began to rise off the ground. Sakura stood up and with a motion of her hand the white cloud shot towards Jiro. He could only tighten up his stance as the white mist swirled around him and clouded his vision. He waited for the attack as he stood engulfed in the cloud but nothing happened. The dust in his mouth and nose was annoying but he could deal with it. His eyes were getting to be a bother, blinking so much to try and keep the dust out of his eyes was impairing his vision even more. When he was starting to really worry the mist seemed to just disappear. A coughing Jiro blinked several times trying to clear his blurred vision but it didn't seem to help much. He could tell that the girl had not moved from her spot, even though he could only see her as a bright red blur in front of him.

"Was that it? Cough That was your big plan? Cough Getting a little dust in my eyes? Cough cough What will that accomplish? Cough cough"

Sakura met his gaze directly, even though he could not see, and said "Your Death" in a tone of fatal finality.

"I'm not dead yet" he said as he began to cough again.

"You're right" she said as she smirked and brought her hand up and pretended to look at a non-existent wristwatch.

"My watch is running 10 seconds ahead".

"Why you cough cough little" was all he got out as he was hit with a coughing fit so violent that it brought him to his knees. When Jiro looked at his hands he could barely tell there was a red blur that could only mean blood on his hands. "What the, cough cough cough. Hell did you, cough cough. Do to me?" he asked in horror as his eyes, lungs, and throat all began to burn.

"That was a Jutsu I invented. I use a large amount of my chakra to turn the ground into a dust like substance; however, it's not dust at all. What it truly is are small glass shards that I have sharpened to a lethal level. The moment you breathed them in, your life was forfeit. I knew I could not break through your armor, so I just skipped it and attacked your internal organs. As I speak the glass shards are destroying your insides. I meant what I said. You're dead!" that said, Sakura turned around and left to find Naruto as Jiro lay on the ground dying, his own blood filling his lungs. Every breath he took bringing his death closer. Sakura never noticed that a set of crimson eyes had seen the whole thing.

**XxX**

Naruto jumped across the treetops at incredible speeds. The Fox supplying the chakra he needed as he desperately tried to catch up to the man that took Hinata. He finally found him as he landed in front of the river that separated the lands of Fire and Earth.

Ichiro turned to see, not his twin brother as he expected, but the stupid looking blond from the camp. "You actually came after me? Just what do you think you can accomplish? My bother probably already killed the girl and now I'll just kill you, fool". He said as he set Hinata on the ground and walked towards Naruto.

"The only fool here is you, if you think you guys are getting away. I'll just kick your ass and take Hinata back" yelled Naruto.

Ichiro roared with laughter. "Is that so?" he asked with a chuckle. "Well then let's get this over with" he said as Naruto filled the river bank with shadow clones and charged at him. Ichiro was the stronger of the twins and unlike his brother he didn't waste time in taking out his opponents. He performed the **Earth Avalanche Jutsu **and took out all of Naruto's clones. Naruto was thinking of what to do when he heard. "Earth** Style: Earth Spears Jutsu**".

Naruto looked up to see several spears rising from the ground and the shooting straight at him. Naruto reacted on instinct and went through some hand signs "**Earth Style: Mud Wall Jutsu**" Naruto's wall was up an instant before the first spears hit. Unfortunately, his wall was not strong enough to block all the spears, but it gave him time to jump out of the way. "_I'll have to thank Sakura for teaching me that Jutsu"_ he thought. He didn't have much time to think as Ichiro was on him launching a barrage of punches, several connected, sending Naruto crashing to a rock.

"Are you done? Did you waste all the time and energy to find me and that's all you got? Pathetic".

Naruto wiped the blood from his mouth as he got up. "No way! I'm not done until I'm finished kicking your ass!" he shouted as he created 2 clones and tried attacking his opponent from all sides. All three Narutos connected with a punch only to jump back clutching their hands in pain. "What the hell?" he looked at Ichiro to see that his bloodline was active. "_That must be his blood limit"_ thought Naruto.

"I'm getting tired of your stupidity boy! You have no chance against me. Your nothing but an insect compared to me. If you had been smart you would have run back to your village as fast as you could. But no, you had to try and play the hero. Because in your delusional mind you actually think that one of you can actually beat me. You thought you could save your little friend. Well that's not going to happen kid; I'm selling her to the Cloud Village for a fortune. And just for all the grief you stupid Leaf punks have given me..." he said as a sadistic smirk appeared on his face. "I'm going to introduce her to her new duty as a piece of breeding stock, personally. After all, that's all she'll be when she gets to the Cloud Village".

"NO YOU WONT!" screamed Naruto as his largest wave of shadow clones appeared, ready to do battle.

"That's it! I'm done playing this game. **Earth Style: Stone Rain Jutsu**".

The Naruto army looked on in shock as a massive chunk of earth rose to the sky. The earth chunk then began to compress its self until it became a sphere floating above them.

"It's over!" roared Ichiro as the earth sphere began to shoot pebble sized stones at blinding speed. In seconds, Naruto and all his clones were being assaulted by tiny stones. When the cloud of smoke that the dying clones created when they were dispelled was gone, only a heavily bleeding Naruto remained.

Naruto couldn't believe what was happening. He saw as the bastard smirked at him then went to pick up Hinata. He tried to move but his body wouldn't listen. He was covered in blood as his body had been hit with dozens of the tiny stones. His arms and legs had gotten the worst of it but he had been hit all over.

Ichiro had placed Hinata on his shoulder when he heard a forced whisper.

"G-give her b-back"

He turned to see the blond idiot trying to crawl towards him. He shook his head in disbelief. "Even when you're about to die you won't listen huh? I'm not giving anything back. In fact, I'm going to keep my promise to you. I normally prefer more mature women like your hot sensei, but… I think I'll let you die knowing what I'll do to her. Knowing what they'll do to her for the rest of her life, that sounds like proper punishment for you" he said as he began to walk toward the river. Before he got to the water however he felt a massive chakra spike.

"**GIVE HER BAAAACK!**"

**XxX**

Hinata slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't remember what happened. She knew they had been attacked; Sakura and Naruto had not been at the camp at the time for some reason. The missing ninja had overpowered them. Even Kurenai sensei was beaten. But anything after that she couldn't remember. A wild roar snapped Hinata out of her thoughts and cleared her grogginess. She noticed she was on the ground on a river bank and was in chains. Her bindings would have to wait, there was a battle going on.

The feral Naruto disappeared in a blur, his clawed hand swiped across Ichiro's chest, gouging deeply, his bloodline useless to stop the monster that attacked him. Before being able to form a defense, Ichiro's body was covered in wounds and his blood dripped heavily onto the ground. He began to feel something he hadn't felt in a long time. Fear, fear of this beast after his life. He had tried to fight back but the thing was too fast, too powerful.

Ichiro jumped back, desperately trying to put distance between him and the monster. He was careless and tripped on a rock sprawling to the ground on his back. That was all Naruto needed and was on him in a second, pounding him into the ground. Punch after punch rained down on Ichiro until his world went black.

Hinata looked with wide eyes as the beastly looking Naruto continued to pound on the clearly dead ninja. Naruto's hands and face were covered in blood as he kept punching away, the dead ninja's blood spraying morbid crimson patterns all over the ground. She had never seen anything like it. Something had happened to her sweet, happy Naruto. She had never seen him like this, filled with rage and bloodlust. And then there was that vile red chakra that was sounding him. She had to do something.

**XxX**

Sakura felt the release of the Fox's chakra. She took a soldier pill and accelerated her pace as quickly as she could. She had to get to them. She couldn't lose them; not again.

Sakura reached the riverbank in time to see Naruto surrounded in the Fox cloak. He was pounding the other twin into mangled shreds of flesh. By the amount of blood on Naruto the man had been dead for at least a few moments. She was about to try and calm him down when she caught sight of Hinata making her way to Naruto.

"_No! He's not himself right now"_ she thought as she hurried to try and stop her.

Hinata had escaped her bindings and quietly made her way to Naruto. She was about to say something when he suddenly stopped and looked at her. Hinata could only gasp in shock as she saw his blood covered face. But what truly scared her were his blood red eyes. She couldn't believe that those were the same eyes that usually shone like the clear blue sky, the eyes they had come to love with all her heart. Before she could think of anything else Naruto tackled her to the ground.

Sakura saw Naruto tackle Hinata down and screamed for him to stop but he didn't seem to hear her.

Clear lavender eyes stared into the blood red catlike ones. For what seemed like forever they looked into each other. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, his eyes turned blue as they rolled to the back of his head and he passed out from exhaustion.

"Hinata are you ok!" yelled Sakura as she made it to them. She turned Naruto to his back and began to run diagnostic Jutsu to see if he was ok. "He's going to be fine" she said with a sigh. Sakura turned to the still shocked Hinata and asked again "are you ok Hinata?"

"Sakura, what happened to Naruto? What was that chakra and those red eyes?"

"Not now Hinata. I can't tell you… yet"

Hinata stared at her friend, and then nodded after a moment. "Not yet? But later?"

"When its time I will. Right now we have to keep this quiet ok? Nobody can know what you saw because it's an S class secret".

Hinata nodded. She didn't know what to think so for now she would keep quiet. Whatever it was it had to do with Naruto. And if it had to do with him she would get the truth. She only hoped that whatever it was, that Naruto will be ok. The look that Naruto had before frightened her, to the core of her very being, but he was still Naruto; her Naruto, and she would believe in him no matter what happed.

**XxX**

Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you all liked it. Please review and let me know what you all thought.

Also please check out my new story Naruto: Heir of whirlpool. It's a Naruto/Hinata story that I thought about for a while so I hope it dose as well as this one. Thanks for all the support shown not only for me but my family as well, thank you all.


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

First I would like to apologize again for the late chapter, I had intended to have it out much sooner but an incident at work has left not only myself but many of my co-workers with no personal lives for the last several weeks. Add to that, that my friend who has been helping me with my grammar/spelling was on vacation and it adds to a late update. Anyway thanks to everyone for the support and the great ideas that have been given to me for the direction of this story, I really appreciate it. Please keep letting me know what you all think and what would make the story more enjoyable. Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

**XxX**

**Chapter 12**

Team seven, Hinata and Kurenai stood in front of the Hokage as he read the mission report. The tension in the room was thick enough to choke on. While the mission had, technically, been a success, by looking at the deepening frown on the old Hakage's face, he wasn't too happy with their performance. The Hokage finally set the reports down and looked at them impassively.

"So all targets were terminated and all civilians rescued?"

"Yes Sir. All bandits and enemies ninja were killed and all civilians were recovered and relocated to a nearby village" answered Kurenai.

"And there were no major injuries to the hostages?"

"That's correct. The only major injuries were suffered by Sasuke Uchiha, but the treatment he received by Sakura Haruno was enough to heal most of those injuries before we returned to the village. I was very impressed with not only Sakura's but Naruto's performance during the mission" said Kurenai.

"Yet they made what could have been a **FATAL** mistake, not only for yourselves but for the mission" said the Hokage in a harsh tone as he gave Naruto and Sakura a hard look. Kurenai was going to respond but the Hokage raised his hand to silence her. "Don't worry Kurenai; I will be speaking to their sensei about what exactly he has been teaching them if that's how they behave during a mission. You and your student deserve some rest. Take a couple of days off before resuming training with your team. You both can leave" he said, making sure she knew it wasn't a request.

"Yes Sir" said Kurenai before she led Hinata out of the office.

"Sasuke I want you to go to the hospital and have them take a look at you to make sure you're ok".

"But I'm fine; I don't need to go to the hospital" argued the Uchiha.

"Indulge me then, if they say you're fine, you can go home. You may leave as well". Sasuke grunted a "whatever" before leaving the office, but not before taking one last look at his teammates. The Hokage then turned to the two remaining Gennin with a glare that made Naruto gulp. "One of you want to explain to me why the two of you left camp in the middle of the night, without permission or informing your commanding officer?" he asked.

"Well y-you see…" began Naruto.

"Naruto needed to tell me about the Nine Tailed Fox" said Sakura calmly.

The Hokage's eyes widen slightly before he looked at Naruto who gave him a nervous nod conforming it was true. The Hokage closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose before he turned to look at Sakura and asked. "And how do you feel about Naruto's secret?"

Sakura turned to look at Naruto and smiled at him before she turned to the Hokage and said "it doesn't matter to me. Naruto is Naruto regardless of what he holds inside of him".

The Hokage looked intently into Sakura's green eyes and was impressed with the Gennin's resolve. He smiled at her and said "I'm glad to hear that. I just wish you could have picked a better time for that discussion. You are aware that I could have both of your ninja licenses for this?" He asked. The Hokage saw Naruto panicking so he continued. "I won't take them this time but half of your pay will be deducted as punishment" he said.

"Half!" whined Naruto knowing how many ramen bowls that would cost him.

"Yes" said the Hokage.

"What about the bounty on the missing ninja we killed?" asked Sakura.

"Bounty?" asked the Hokage.

"Yes, they were in the bingo book. If I remember correctly there was a bounty of 25,000 ryo for each of them. It's not much as far as missing ninja go, but is more than what we would get paid for a C rank mission" she said calmly.

The Hokage looked through his paper work and saw she was correct. "I see you're right Sakura. The bounty will not be touched except for the processing and collecting fee that is usually charged. The money and the rest of your mission pay will be deposited into your accounts" he said.

"Are we excused?" asked Sakura.

"Yes, that will be all. You are both excused" said the Hokage. Once both were out of the room he turned to his open window. "You can come in Kakashi". Kakashi appeared in a swirl of wind standing in front of the old Hokage. "What do you think?"

"I suspected she would find out soon enough. I'm glad she took his secret so well" said Kakashi.

"Yes, I suppose that could have ended far worse than it did. So how did your mission go?"

"I located the small village were the Haruno family originated as instructed. It is located in the most southern part of Fire country near the border of Tea country. From the information I gathered from the town elders and others who remembered them before they moved to the Leaf Village, the Harunos were not native to that village".

"Is that so?"

"Yes, from what I was able to gather, Sakura's great grandmother moved to the village near the end of the first great war".

"Did you get her name?"

"Shina Haruno".

"I'm afraid I've never heard of her. So, were you able to gather any information on her husband?"

"I'm afraid not. Nobody ever met her husband. And they wouldn't talk much about her either".

"Did you find out anything?"

"I found that she was a very kind and beautiful woman. She provided medical services for everyone at no charge. She was well liked by everyone, which is why many who did remember her would not say much to me."

"I see. I suppose that is why Sakura is so gifted in the medical arts, it runs in her family."

"Actually, nobody in her family has had ninja training until her. Sakura never met her great grandmother and her father and grandfather were merchants."

"Yes, I was able to find that out here. Her father attended the academy but was unable to graduate."

"Sakura has never mentioned that to me" said Kakashi.

"He was a good man. I never met him myself but he was well liked by many. He died during the Nine Tailed Fox's attack, he was helping other civilians get to the shelters when the building he was in collapsed while he was still inside" said the Hokage.

"We lost many good people that day".

"Yes we did. Did you find anything else?"

"Yes, Shina Haruno gave birth to Sakura's grandfather less than 9 months after she arrived at the village, which means…"

"She was already pregnant when she arrived" said the Hokage.

"That's not all. I looked everywhere and couldn't find her birth certificate anywhere, or her death certificate for that matter. I also couldn't find anyone with the name Haruno or anyone that heard of them before Shina Haruno. That leads me to believe that Haruno was a name fabricated to hide her true identity."

"It's not unheard of for individuals to change their name, especially during a time of war" said the Hokage.

"And when they do, they usually have something to hide" answered Kakashi.

The Hokage couldn't help but agree with Kakashi. He also believed the girl was hiding something. But, was it enough to confront her about it? He wasn't sure. He knew Naruto cared about her and he seriously hoped that whatever she was hiding was not something that endangered the village. He really didn't want to make Naruto choose between the girl and the village, because he didn't think he would like Naruto's answer to that choice.

"I think we have found all we can about Sakura's family. I don't think we have much of a choice anymore".

"Are we going to confront her then?" asked Kakashi.

"Yes, I believe its time we got to the bottom of this. Be here at noon tomorrow, and don't be late Kakashi, I want you here for this".

"Yes Sir" said Kakashi.

**XxX**

The following day Sakura woke up to her mother nocking at her door.

"Sakura wake up honey, there's someone at the door for you". Sakura grudgingly made her way downstairs and was surprised to see an Anbu standing at her door.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Sakura.

"Sakura Haruno, the Hokage requests your presence at his office at noon today. Do not be late" he said before leaving without waiting for an answer.

Sakura began to go through any possible reasons the Hokage would want to see her. The Anbu said the Hokage wanted _her_ not her team. Sakura knew Kakashi was suspicious of her but could the Hokage be as well? This was bad! She really didn't want to tell the Hokage about her knowledge of the future. Sakura never really forgave the old man for doing so little for Naruto when he was a little boy. The Third knew Naruto's parents and still let him grow up alone and miserable. No matter, that could wait for later. Right now she needed to get ready for that meeting. Whatever he wanted she needed to be ready to steer him away from the truth. The last thing she wanted was someone like Danzo finding out she had knowledge of the future. Someone like him finding out would be bad news for everyone.

**XxX**

Sakura arrived on to the Hokage tower on time the following day. When she entered the office she saw the Hokage siting in his desk with Kakashi leaning on the wall next to him (reading his book of course). If Kakashi was here **Early **then she knew this was as serious as she thought it was.

"You called for me lord Hokage" she said in a respectful tone.

"Yes Sakura, there's something that your sensei and I wish to speak to you about".

"And what is that Sir?"

"It's about the jutsu you used during your first C rank mission. I would like to know where you learned them".

"I have already explained to Kakashi sensei that I leaned them from a family scroll" she said.

"And you can produce this scroll if asked?" asked the Hokage.

"With all due respect Lord Hokage, but article 12 of the Konaha charter states that the Hokage has neither the right nor the authority to demand the secrets of any clan Jutsu."

The Hokage frowned at that. He didn't want to push the subject because he knew the girl was right. The clans would not take it well if they found out he was demanding secret techniques.

"I don't believe the Haruno is considered a ninja clan Sakura. After all, your family are all merchants, are they not?" asked Kakashi.

"The charter not only protects established clans but ALL jutsu developed by an individual person, clan or members of a family. It doesn't specify that the protection is only for an existing clan."

The Hokage picked up his pipe and began to light it. This was not going well; the girl was already defensive and had an abnormal knowledge of the law. As much as he didn't want to be hard with her she wasn't leaving him much of a choice.

"As Hokage, I do have the authority to have anyone interrogated if I feel they are hiding something of vital importance to the village's security. If it comes to it I WILL exercise that right" said the Hokage.

"I still don't see how my clan jutsus are of vital importance to the Village's security" she said. She was stalling for time. They were on to her, but telling them the truth was out of the question. Fortunately Kakashi gave her the means to keep herself from going to the interrogation department. The last thing Sakura wanted was to pay Ibiki and Anko a visit.

"We know that the Haruno name is a fabricated name Sakura. We also know that the jutsu you used are from this village, and only few know of their existence. We need to know how you learned them" said Kakashi.

Sakura couldn't tell Kakashi he was only half right and the jutsu didn't actually come from _this_ village. Sakura knew she was going to have to give them something, something she had hoped to keep secret for as long as possible. She was already dreading the outcome but she didn't have a choice, she would do it to keep her secret about the future long enough to save Naruto.

"Your right about my great grandmother, Shina Haruno wasn't her real name".

"What was her real name?" asked the Third Hokage.

Sakura took a deep breath. This was NOT going to go well, "Her real name was… Haruna Shirahama".

The silence that followed was only broken by the sound of the Hokage's pipe falling on the floor. Kakashi didn't recognize the name but by the look of shock on the Hokage's face it was obvious that he did. Kakashi decided to keep quiet and see where this goes.

The look on the Hokage's face turned from stunned disbelieve to boiling rage as he abruptly stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "That's a LIE! Lady Haruna died long ago. I was there, I saw it happen!" he all but yelled.

"I'm afraid you're wrong Sir, she survived the attack and was taken from the village in secret. Her survival was kept from everyone for her safety".

"He would have told me, he wouldn't have kept it a secret from ME. Sensei knew how I felt about the attack. He would have told me…" he said with a whisper at the last part, almost as if trying to convince himself more than the others.

"I beg your pardon, but who exactly is Haruna Shirahama?" asked Kakashi.

Before Sakura could answer the Hokage spoke. "The Shirahama clan was one of the first civilian families to join the Leaf Village once it was formed. Lady Haruna was their only daughter; she was a kind and beautiful woman. She had a sweet and gentle nature, and was loved by many. During the beginning of the First Great War she trained with the medical core to help with the many sick and injured that the war produced. It was there that she met my sensei, the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. My sensei soon fell in love with the wonderful woman and she with him".

"I never heard of the Second having a lover." said Kakashi.

"That's because they tried very hard to keep it a secret. Only my team and her family knew about it. They were planning to marry as soon as the war was over but…"

"What happened?" asked Kakashi.

"I messed up" said the Third with sorrow in his voice. "My sensei had my team discreetly watch over her while we were in the village, just in case something happened. You never knew if a surprise attack would occur. Anbu were needed to guard the village so we would take turns trailing Lady Haruna in secret so she wouldn't worry herself. It was my turn to watch over her. As usual I followed her from the hospital to her family home. I was to wait there until one of my teammates came to relive me. I was bored and thought it couldn't hurt if I left for a short while. I was only a block away, getting a snack, when I heard an explosion. I ran towards the sound and when I got there I was horrified to see the Shirahama house on fire. It was my fault".

"That's why you were so upset with Naruto and me leaving during the mission" said Sakura.

"Yes, one moment of weakness, one mistake can cost the innocent their lives".

"So did you find out what happened?" Asked Kakashi.

"Yes, a spy from the Cloud Village was able to somehow find out about my sensei and lady Haruna. While I was away he delivered a package with several explosive notes in it, there were no survivors. That's why I know you're lying" he said as he looked at Sakura.

"Why are you so sure Sir? Did you see her body?" asked Kakashi still trying to get the whole picture.

"There were only three people that lived in that house. Lady Haruna and her parents, and there were three bodies found in the wreckage".

"And you can explain how three dead people were found while you claim lady Haruna survived?" Kakashi asked Sakura.

"Yes I can. You see the Hokage is mistaken when he thinks that the spy was there to kill my great grandmother. The spy was a female that was sent to _capture_ her to use as leverage against the Second Hokage. The spy never expected that her father would get a lucky shot and stab her with a hidden dagger when she let her guard down. Once she knew she would be either dead or captured she detonated some explosive tags she had on her. My great grandmother only survived the blast because of a special ring that had a protection seal on it; she was injured but only with minor cuts and burns."

"If that was true my team and I would have been told" said the Third.

Sakura shook her head. "The Hokage couldn't risk anyone, especially the Cloud Village finding out. So he secretly smuggled her out and escorted her to a small village far away from the front lines. That is when Haruna Shirahama became Shina Haruno. The Hokage had hoped that once the war was over, he would be able to bring her back to the village. Unfortunately he was killed a little more than a month later. He never found out that my great grandmother was pregnant with his child".

Kakashi's jaw dropped as the Hokage had to steady himself with his desk; his old legs were ready to give out from under him. "W-what did you say?" asked the Third in disbelieve.

"I said that I'm a direct descendant of the second Hokage Tobirama Senju".

"But, that's impossible!" said the Hokage.

"_That's how I felt when I found out"_ thought Sakura. Sakura would never have thought she was secretly related to one of the Leaf Village's founding clans. It wasn't until her son Minato had shown the ability to use the Senju bloodline Wood Release that she her ran blood test to see were the ability could have come from. Sakura had been completely shocked to find out that she had Senju blood in her. After finding out, Sakura began to go through every old document her family had and it was while doing this that she found her great grandmother's diary. In it she explained everything that happened, and left Sakura no choice but to except that it was true.

"Not as impossible as you may think Sir. Sakura has an incredibly high water affinity just like the Second. She also has earth affinity and can use some of the Second's jutsu. If what she said is true a simple blood test can prove it. In fact with Sakura's amazing chakra control and having both water and earth affinities she might even be able to use the Wood Release bloodline of the Senju" said Kakashi.

"_I wouldn't count on that Kakashi; I was never able to do it before. Then again, with the war going on, I never had the time to actually train for it"_ thought Sakura.

The Hokage didn't know what to think. Could this girl really be related to his sensei? "We will run the test to be sure what you say is true" he began. "Kakashi you will take her to the hospital and have my personal physician run the test. I want you to make sure that **NO ONE** but he knows about the test. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal Sir".

The Hokage turned then turned to Sakura. "How long have you known? And why did you keep it hidden? The knowledge of a Senju heir would have been most welcomed in the village".

Sakura stared directly into the old man's eyes. "You better than most should know that some secrets have to be kept a secret for the safety of the individual in concerns". Sakura was in no mood to deal with the old man. The fool had forced her to reveal something she didn't want known. She could only hope this wouldn't interfere with her plan too much.

A shiver ran up the Hokage's spine as he stared at the fierce green eyes. He knew she spoke about Naruto, but did she mean his secret about the Fox? Or could she possibly know of his heritage? No there's no way she could, could she? He would have to keep a close eye on her. The amount of political power Sakura could possess while Tsunade was set on never setting foot in this village could be great.

"I see, very well both of you go and get the tests done. I expect you both back within the hour. Go!"

Kakashi placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and both student and sensei left in a swirl of wind. The Hokage was so busy contemplating the magnitude of the secret he just found out that he didn't notice the tiny bug that flew out his window.

**XxX**

Deep in an underground hideout the old War Hawk of the Leaf Village stood in front on his kneeling subordinate.

"Are you absolutely sure of this? There can be no mistake!"

"I am lord Danzo. The girl is being tested as we speak" replied the kneeling man in an emotionless tone.

Could this be true? A Senju heir within the village? How could he have missed this? No matter, that's no longer important. He had to figure out a way to gain influence over the girl. If there really is a chance that the girl can have the Senju bloodline she was far too valuable to lose. If he could get her under his control, then getting the Jinchuriki under his control would be easy. With both under his command, he would take the seat of Hokage as he deserved. Then he would lead the village to greatness, and destroy all of the Leaf's enemies.

**XxX**

So that it for this chapter. I know it was more of filler but I promise the next chapter will be longer and with a lot more things going on, including Naruto's reaction to Sakura's secret. Please review and let me know what you all think.

I would also like to thank my friend JS for acting as my unofficial beta since he's too lazy to write his own story.

Lord Rahl Master of Dhara


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

First I would like to thank everyone for the reviews and p.m.'s I received for the last chapter. I know I have been slow to update but between my job and my other story I have been doing the best I can. I really appreciate the support everyone has shown not only for this story but for my other one too.

Anyway, here is the next chapter, please read/review and let me know what you think. I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts, concerns, and suggestions on how to make the story better. This will be the last chapter before the Chunin exams begin. Enjoy!

**XxX**

**Chapter 13**

The Third Hokage sat at his desk looking at the papers that were proof of what he considered one of the worst mistakes of his life. Reviewing these papers, he realized that his error had not been as catastrophic as he thought. He was so happy at this discovery that he couldn't even feel angry at his sensei for keeping it a secret. The guilt and anger he felt at himself for being responsible for Lady Haruna's death had helped shape him into the man he was today. Sarutobi had to admit that the feeling of relief he felt knowing that he was not responsible for the death of his beloved sensei's lover was indescribable; it was a lifetime of guilt leaving at last, Sarutobi could finally move on and the person responsible for this was standing in front of him.

Sarutobi looked up from the paperwork and stared intently into Sakura's emerald green eyes, his voice deep with emotion as he spoke to her. "You have no idea what this means to me Sakura, for this I will forever be in you debt."

Sakura could tell the Hokage truly meant what he said. She was glad to help him, even if he was messing with her plans; she knew how felt to carry a guilty conscience. She had made mistakes in her past/future life that she was now trying desperately to avoid. "You don't need to thank me Lord Hokage, all I did was told the truth. I had hoped to keep the truth to myself as long as possible…"

"But why? Why would you want to keep this a secret? The fact that there is another Senju that can possibly bring the clan…" Sarutobi was cut off by Sakura's steeled voice.

"I am a HARUNO! My father and grandfather were Haruno and I have no intention of changing my name, at least not until I'm married."

"But… you know that you carry the Senju blood in you," argued the Hokage. "When the village knows…"

"I know what will happen" she snapped at him. "I know that people will try to manipulate me for their own selfish gains. Or they will try to suck up to me in hope to gain something from me in the future. Worse of all they will try to control me any way they can. Well, I will tell you now. I may not be able to stop you from telling the village but neither you nor the council have the authority to force me to take the Senju name. And with the exception of my ninja duties I will not be told what to do in regards to my personal life. If I have to I will take a page out of Tsunade's book and leave this village, with or without permission".

"You would rather become a missing ninja than become the Senju heir? Would you really leave your friends and your mother over this?" asked the Hokage in disbelief.

"I refuse to be a pawn for political games. I refuse to be controlled simply to satisfy the people who can't get over their anger and grief enough to let a wonderful person become what he was meant to become".

Sarutobi finally knew what she was talking about. Apparently Kakashi's suspicions about there being more to the relationship between Sakura and Naruto were right. The girl knew that if she took the Senju name many would try to gain influence on her. And many, especially the council, will try to pressure her into continuing the Senju clan' name. Because of Tsunade's age, she was no longer able to bear children. This would place all the pressure on Sakura, and the girl knows it. Sakura also knows that the council would approve of the heir of the Senju clan to be in a relationship with someone like Naruto. Sarutobi once again cursed the civilians' ignorance. If the village knew not one but two of the four Hokage's wives were Jinchuriki, maybe they would be more tolerant of Naruto.

"I understand how you feel Sakura, but this is a critical decision. This is an important opportunity, not only for you but for the good of the village as well. Please think carefully about your decision. I will support you with whatever you decide."

"Thank you Lord Hokage, if that is all for now, can I be excused? There is someone I need to talk to before this becomes public knowledge."

"Very well Sakura, you're excused".

Sakura gave the Hokage a small bow then left to find Naruto. The Hokage turned to the man standing next to him and asked.

"What do you think Kakashi?"

"I think Sakura is right about the council. I don't think they will leave her alone when this gets out".

"I know…we will have to keep a close eye on her, a close eye on both Sakura and Naruto".

"I will do my best Lord Hokage".

"Very well, you may leave Kakashi. I have to call for a council meeting. Don't forget that the Jonin meeting is tomorrow, if you want to take part in the nomination ceremony DO NOT BE LATE."

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and said "Of course not. My students would kill me if I was". He the disappeared in a swirl of leafs, leaving an amused Hokage behind.

**XxX**

"So has it been confirmed?" asked a heavily bandaged man with a cane.

"Yes Lord Danzo. The girl is without doubt the great granddaughter of the Second Hokage" answered a kneeling masked man.

Danzo actually smiled. "I must prepare for the council meeting Sarutobi is certain to call."

""My lord, the Hokage will not willingly give custody of the girl to anyone."

"It doesn't matter; I WILL have the Senju and the demon. After all, ninja go missing in action all the time". With that, the man left to prepare for the meeting.

**XxX**

Naruto was having a great day so far. He got up early and had a light breakfast of Shinobi-O's. Sakura had made sure that he didn't have ramen for all his meals. He was only allowed to have ramen once a day; Naruto had very reluctantly agreed that this way was healthier for him. Naruto had been reading the books that Sakura had given him, while most we really boring, Naruto had taken a real interest in the books on sealing. This type of book seems to call to him; it was like he was meant to read them. While he was still only learning the basics, Naruto thought this was something that had potential to be a powerful skill for him later. After buying some new weapons and gear with some of the money from the last mission, Naruto had a productive training session before heading to Ichiraku's for a well needed ramen fix. He was very surprised to find Sakura waiting for him outside the ramen stand.

"Hey Sakura, your meeting with the old man over?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, I kind of have to talk to you about it. In private" she said in a serious voice. Naruto was going to answer when his stomach growled loudly. Sakura smiled and added "After we have lunch".

After a short and quiet lunch the couple left the stand and walked to Naruto's apartment. An apartment that once was a mess was now a neat and clean place thanks to some not so subtle threats from Sakura. After sitting comfortably on the couch, Naruto nervously asked. "So what do you want to talk about Sakura?"

"It's about the meeting I had with the Hokage".

"What about it? Is something wrong" he asked, concerned.

"Well… there is something that I need to tell you Naruto. It's something about my family that will be made public soon. I wanted you to hear it from me before you hear it from someone else."

"Ok, so what is it? You look worried about it. You know that no matter what it is, I'm here for you, you know that" he told her with an intense look on his face.

Sakura smiled at him, this was one reason why she loved him so much; his fierce determination and loyalty to the people he loves. "Well as it turns out I recently found out that my family was not always named Haruno. My great grandmother changed it to hide her real name. Her true name was not Shina Haruno, it was Haruna Shirahama".

"I've never heard of her, did she do something wrong? Why does it matter what her name was?" he asked confused.

"Her family was one of the first civilian families to live in the Leaf Village…"

"Wow! That is so cool Sakura!" he nearly yelled excitedly. "But why did she change her name then?"

"The reason she changed her name and left the village was because of the man that is my great grandfather. He was a powerful ninja and had many enemies. To keep her safe after an attack that killed her family, she was secretly taken from the village and changed her name. The plan was to have her come back once the war was over but unfortunately my great grandfather was killed soon after she left. Nobody but my great-grandmother knew who he was but I found her diary and learned her secret. Because of certain actions I had to tell the Hokage about it. He just had my blood tested and it proves that my great grandfather was who my great grandmother said it was. Because of who he was they will probably announce it to the village soon."

"Who was he?" asked Naruto.

"My great grandfather was… Tobirama Senju".

Naruto's eyes widen, and then took a pensive look for several seconds before he spoke. "Who was he again?" he asked rubbing the back of his head.

Sakura sweat dropped before her eye twitched. "Naruto didn't you pay any attention in the academy? That was the name of the Second Hokage" Sakura answered in a frustrated tone.

Finally understanding, Naruto's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Wait. You're related to a Hokage... That's AMAZING! Sakura that's so cool. Why are you acting like it's a bad thing or something?"

Of course Naruto would think being related to a Hokage could only be a good thing. "Naruto, this is going to cause me a lot of grief. The council and the Hokage want me to change my name and everything. I don't want to be treated differently, and I don't want people trying to control me or tell me what I should or shouldn't do. And I especially don't want anybody thinking they can tell me who I should be with".

When Sakura said that Naruto understood why she was worried. If she was related to the Second Hokage, the villagers and the stupid council wouldn't want her to even be friends with him, much less be his girlfriend. "Is that why you didn't want to tell anybody about us? Because you knew if the village found out about your family that they would not approve of us?"

"I don't care what people think Naruto. We can tell everyone we're together if you want. But people will try to break us apart when they find out. It will be harder for us to be together but if you want to we'll do it. I'm not leaving you unless you want me to".

Naruto looked in to her emerald green eyes and saw the intensity in them, she meant every word. He smirked and answered "good because I never want you to leave me. I guess we should still keep us being together a secret, for now anyways."

Sakura smiled at him and engulfed him in a tight hug. The young couple spent the rest of the day in each other's company as the Hokage had his meeting with the Village Council.

**XxX**

In the council room the Hokage waited for everyone to be seated before speaking. "Thank you all for coming in short notice."

"Why have we been called for this meeting? Is there something wrong Sarutobi?" asked Danzo, who already knew the answer.

"You were called because I have just verified some information that is of great importance to the village" answered the Hokage.

"And what information is that Lord Hokage?" asked the fa… big boned leader of the Akimichi Clan Choza Akimichi.

"Information that regards one of the Leaf Village's most revered and respected clans."

"Oh, is this about Sasuke Uchiha then?" interrupted one of the civilian council members.

Several of the ninja clan heads grumbled at the fool's question before the Hokage answered. "No, the information I gathered is about the other clan the founded this village… it's about the Senju Clan".

This caused whispers as people wondered what this was about. Finally one of the Hokage's advisers Utatane Koharu spoke. "What information is this Sarutobi? Did something happen to Tsunade?"

"No, this is not about Tsunade. This is about another…"

"What other? Tsunade is the only Senju left". Danzo mentally smirked as Sarutobi looked at him in frustration. Danzo wanted Sarutobi to spit it out so he could put his plan in action.

"Actually that is no longer the case; I have just verified that one of our ninja is actually a descendant of the Second Hokage"

This news sent a wave of shock through the entire room, the look of disbelief was most apparent in both of Sarutobi's former teammates, not that Sarutobi blamed them. After all he could hardly believe it himself.

"What do you mean? How is that possible?" asked Koharu is a shaky voice. Danzo said nothing since he already knew.

"It appears that Lady Haruna was not killed in the attack as we were led to believe"

"But we…"

Sarutobi cut her off. "I KNOW. I know what we saw, believe me when I tell you that I didn't believe it myself. However the blood test proves that the person is who they say they are. My personal physician ran the tests. The person in question is a direct descendant of our sensei and Lady Haruna."

"Forgive me Lord Hokage but am I to assume that your team knew of the Second having a personal relationship with this person, Lady Haruna" asked Shibi Aburame.

"Yes, Tobirama sensei swore us to secrecy in order to keep Lady Haruna safe since she was a civilian and he had many enemies. However, somehow the cloud village learned of their relationship and tried to kidnap her. The attempt failed and cost the lives of Lady Haruna's parents. We believed that Lady Haruna died as well but apparently she survived and our sensei kept it a secret, even from us. Lady Haruna was taken from this village with the hope that when the war was over she could be returned. However our sensei was killed a month later and the knowledge of her survival was lost with him. Lady Haruna was already with child and knew that our sensei's enemies would do harm to her and her son. She changed her name and told no one of the father of her child. The descendant of that child is now a ninja of this village. They brought that information to me after I questioned them about performing jutsu that only Tobirama sensei had been able to do"

This caused much excitement in the room. The Second Hokage was one of the strongest ninja to ever come out of the Leaf Village. That any ninja was able to perform any of his jutsu was great news to the village.

"And who is this ninja Sarutobi? What is their name?" asked Danzo.

"Her name is Sakura Haruno, she is a Gennin member of team seven under Kakashi Hatake" answered the Hokage. Again whispers resound around the room as the occupants tried to remember what they knew about the young girl in question.

"I know Sakura Haruno, she and my daughter Ino were close friends when they were younger. From what I remember she was a very intelligent with a nearly genius level mind" said Inochi Yamanaka.

"The girl also has a mean temper from what I hear from my son. She completely humiliated him in a sparring session, much to my daughter's and my own amusement. With the right training she could be a powerful asset to this village, that's for sure" said Tsume Inuzuka.

"My son was a witness to that match; his assessment was much the same. Shino said she showed impressive chakra control and that she was gifted not only with Genjutsu but with medical Ninjutsu as well. Truly impressive for someone her age" said Shibi Aburame.

"My daughter Hinata has spent much time with the girl recently. When I asked her of her last mission she praised the girl's skill (and Naruto's). From what Hinata said Sakura Haruno was able to defeat a B rank level missing ninja on her own" said Hiashi Hyuuga. He was thinking that Hinata finally did something right at befriending this girl that could be potentially a powerful and influential ally to the Hyuuga clan.

"Yes, from what Kakashi has told me she is a gifted ninja. She has shown to have inherited Tobirama sensei's incredibly high affinity to water, she currently lacks the chakra capacity to use it to the full extent that sensei did but with time that can change. Sakura also has a secondary affinity for earth which means if only in theory she can potentially be able to resurrect the Senju bloodline" said Sarutobi. As Sarutobi expected this was well received by the council members who he was sure were already trying to figure out ways of how to gain the girl's favor.

"So when will she be announced as the Senju heir? After all, Tsunade is too old to have children and it's only right that this girl take her rightful place" said a civilian that the Hokage could already see had his own agenda for asking the question.

This was the part that Sarutobi knew was not going to go well. "Unfortunately Sakura has refused to take the Senju name. She has no desire to have anything to do with being its heir or anything else to do with the clan". Sarutobi didn't have to wait long to hear the shouting.

"WHAT!"

"IMPOSSIBLE"

"HOW CAN THIS BE?" were shouted among other things.

"Why does she think she has a say in the matter? She is a ninja of this village and should do what she's told" said Danzo.

"She has every right to as she wants. This council has no right to force her to do anything and I will support her decision whether we like it or not" said Sarutobi.

"But why? What possible reason could she have to turn down the name of one of the greatest clans of all time?" as one of the civilians.

"It's because she has been raised by, and as, a civilian. She has no respect for any ninja clan, much less her own. I suggest that she is placed under the guardianship of a clan so she can be properly trained as a ninja clan heir" said Danzo, already with a plan in mind on how to be the one to get Sakura.

Before anyone could agree with him however, "That is NOT going to happen. Not only do we have no right but we have no authority to do it. She lives with her mother and Sakura herself is considered an adult as a ninja of the village, so is entitled to the respect we must give her for her decisions".

"But Sarutobi, she is sensei's heir" said Koharu. "We have to make sure…"

"The only thing we have to make sure of is that we respect her decision. That is what sensei would what us to do" answered the Hokage. This seemed to get through both his teammates as well as most of the ninja in the room, much to Danzo's frustration. Knowing that he no longer had the support to implement his plan, Danzo could only seethe silently while he endured the rest of the meeting. "I believe it's best for her safety that her heritage be kept a secret for now. The last thing we want is that Sakura becomes the target of the Senju clan's enemies. I have also sent word to Tsunade in hopes that this news will bring her back to the village. Perhaps she can convince Sakura to accept her birthright. For now we can only wait and hope for the best".

Sarutobi knew as he watched the council members leave the room that there was no way they would keep quiet. It was Naruto all over again and he knew that the entire village would know about Sakura before the week was done. He had done all he could for now and only hoped that Sakura changed her mind. He didn't like the chances of that happening but you never knew. Whatever happened, it would have to wait as he needed to get ready for the meeting with the Jonin. The Chunin exams were here and he could already tell they were going to be a bigger pain than ever before.

Poor Sarutobi didn't know how right he was.

**XxX**

So there you have it. The exams begin next chapter and we will see what the rookies think of Sakura's secret.

I would like to thank my friend **JS **for helping with the spelling and grammar because it would be a lot worse without his help.

**Lord Rahl Master of Dhara**


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

I want to thank everyone that reviewed last chapter, I really appreciate it! This is one of the shortest chapters I have written but I promise that next one will be much longer. Here is the next chapter, please review and let me know what you think.

**Chapter 14**

Sarutobi had been right when he believed that the secret of Sakura's heritage would not remain a secret for long. By the next day over half the village knew of the secret and the rest would find out soon after that. The news was well received by everyone in the village and all had hope for the restoration of the Senju Clan. Many rich civilians as well as clan heads with sons of Sakura's age were already scheming in hope of getting to the Senju Clan through Sakura.

In their favorite barbeque restaurant three clan heirs were processing the news.

"I still can't believe it! Forehead is the heiress of the Senju Clan? If my dad didn't keep insisting it was true, I would have thought it was some big joke" said Ino.

"Troublesome… can you stop talking about that already? So what if she is a member of the Senju Clan? She would be the only one left after Tsunade kicks the bucket" said Shikamaru.

"Yeahmunch we are all munchmunch heirs too" said Choji.

"Of course it's a big deal! What if she uses this to get Sasuke's attention? They are both the last of their clans, this could ruin my chances with him!" yelled Ino.

"Yeah, _this _is what will ruin your chances" grumbled Shikamaru.

"What was that?" asked Ino, in a tone that promised retribution if the wrong answer was given.

"Nothing" said Shikamaru as he grumbled about troublesome blonds.

**XxX**

Hinata was surprised when her father asked her to meet him in his study after lunch. Usually he avoided her as much as possible unless it was to tell her how much of a disappointment she was. That is why she was having trouble comprehending what was happening.

"I-I'm sorry f-father, but what d-did you say?" asked a confused Hinata.

"I said that I'm proud of you in doing a service to the clan. Your friendship with the Senju heiress can potentially be an important tool that we can use to bring power to the Hyuuga Clan".

Hinata already knew of Sakura's lineage as Sakura told her a few hours after telling Naruto. Hinata like everyone else was surprised but she supported Sakura's decision to not take the Senju name. Hinata couldn't tell her father that so she played along.

"Thank you father, I will do my best to help bring honor to our clan" she said with a bow.

"Yes, see that you do. You can leave now" he said in a dismissive tone.

Hinata didn't need to be told twice and left the room quickly.

**XxX**

At the Hokage tower all Jonin had gathered for the nomination of the Chunin exams.

Several Jonin with more experienced teams, like Guy, had made their nominations. This only left the Jonin of the rookie Gennin.

"Now for this year's Gennin, What have you decided?" asked the Hokage.

Kakashi was the first to respond. "I Kakashi Hatake, nominate the team of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki to participate in this year's Chunin exams".

This was a surprise to many Jonin because it had been a long time since a rookie team had been nominated. Before anyone could object Azuma followed Kakashi's lead.

"I Azuma Sarutobi, nominate the team of Shikamaru Nara, Akimichi Choji, and Ino Yamanaka to participate in this year's Chunin exams".

Not to be outdone by her male counterparts, Kurenai stepped up. "I Kurenai Yui, nominate the team of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga to participate in this year's Chunin Exams".

Hushed whispers filled the room as the Jonin discussed this unprecedented situation as someone yelled out in protest.

"You can't be serious! They are only been out of the academy for a few months" yelled Iruka getting everyone's attention. "Lord Hokage, all nine of these Gennin where my students in the academy. While they are talented, and must have improved under their sensei's teaching. I can't see them being ready for this exam in such a short time. Many more experienced Gennin have been hurt or killed, I must object to their nomination".

"Iruka is right Kakashi" said Guy from behind him. "Even I kept my team from taking the exam last year."

Kakashi would have normally said something to piss off Guy but this was more important. "What you and Iruka fail to see is that there is a huge difference between the **KIDS **that graduated from his class a few months ago, and the **SOLDIERS **that **I** teach now. Besides, I was younger than Naruto when I took the Chunin exams".

"Naruto is nothing like you" yelled Iruka.

"Your right… I never beat a B-rank missing ninja by myself when I was a Gennin" replied Kakashi calmly.

Iruka was about to respond, but was cut off by the Hokage. "That's enough Iruka. Kakashi is right. All Gennin have improved beyond our expectations. If their senseis believe them to be ready, then I will respect their decisions. Now everyone please let your teams know of the exams and make sure to have them fill out the proper forms. This meeting is adjourned".

**XxX**

Shortly after the meeting Kakashi arrived at Team Seven's regular training ground with his trademark entrance.

"YO". To his surprise there was no yelling for him being late. In fact his team had outright ignored him; Sakura and Naruto were reading ninja scrolls and Sasuke was busy scowling at the world in general. Seeing this Kakashi sweat-dropped, '_I think I'm losing my touch'_ he thought. Kakashi cleared his throat loudly and got their attention.

"Oh, Kakashi sensei; we didn't see you there. We thought you would be at least another hour late" said Sakura.

"Well the meeting I was in took less time than I thought" he said as he rubbed the back of his head. _And the Hokage forbade me from being late too" _he thought.

"So are we going to do some training then?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"Actually no, we are not Naruto. The meeting I just came from was for the nominations to this year's Chunin selection exams, and I have nominated our team to participate."

This made Sakura smile, Sasuke smirk, and Naruto jump for joy.

"Hell yeah! We're going to kick some major ass!" yelled Naruto.

"Easy there Naruto. First you have to fill out these forms" Kakashi said as he handed each of them some forms. "Remember to bring these to room 301 at 10:00AM in two days' time. You have the rest of the time from now till then to do as you please."

Sasuke left to train on his own while Sakura and Naruto chose to grab some lunch from Ichiraku Ramen.

As Naruto and Sakura made their way toward Ichiraku's, they both noticed they were being followed; it wasn't very hard after all since they were being followed by a perfectly squared '_rock'. _

"_Fake rocks? What's up with that?" _thought Naruto. "That's the worst disguise of all time, there's no such thing as squared rocks! It's completely obvious".

"So you saw through my camouflage again! Your slick boss, just what I'd expect from my greatest rival" a voice said from inside the _'rock'. _Before Naruto could say anything else there was an explosion from inside the '_rock' _that covered the alley in smoke.

Sakura couldn't help but smile as she watched the smoke clear and reveal three coughing children she knew very well.

"I think we used a little too much gunpowder you guys" said the boy in the middle, Konohamaru. However as soon as the group noticed that Naruto was staring at them they went into action.

"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" said a small girl with orange hair tied in two large ponytails. She was wearing blue ninja sandals, tan colored pants, and a pink short-sleeve shirt. She was also wearing a red cape-like… thing and a set of goggles on her forehead like a headband.

"I love algebra, call me Udon" said a boy with short brown hair. He was wearing blue ninja sandals, tan colored shorts, and a long-sleeve blue shirt. He too was wearing a pair of round glasses and a set of goggles on his forehead.

"And I'm the number one ninja in the village, Konohamaru!" Konohamaru was wearing blue ninja sandals, light blue shorts, and a yellow short-sleeve shirt. He was wearing something that was defiantly a blue cape and he also had a pair of goggles on his head.

"And when we are together we are called… the Konohamaru Ninja Squad!" yelled all three of them in unison.

"So… did you want something Konohamaru?" asked Naruto in a bored tone.

"You know what we want! You said you would play ninja with us" yelled Konohamaru.

"I can't right now. I'm going to have lunch with Sakura" said Naruto, pointing to Sakura, who smiled at the kids.

"What? But you promised!" screamed Konohamaru, outraged. He turned to look at Sakura with a scowl on his face. "Why would you want hang out with her instead of us? I mean look at her forehead, it's HUGE!"

Sakura's smile never left her face; however, she was immediately surrounded by a menacing aura. Naruto, seeing this, feared for his young friend's life. Naruto jumped in front of Sakura with his arms opened wide as he tried to shield the children from Sakura's wrath.

"GO! RUN FOR IT WHILE YOU CA…" Naruto's warning was cut off as Sakura's fist connected with his face sending him crashing through a wooden fence. Seeing this, the kids made a run for it as the angry pink-haired ninja gave chase. Naruto shook away the stars he was seeing from Sakura's blow and took off after them hoping he could get them before Sakura turned Konohamaru into paste.

**XxX**

"Hey, let me go you creep!"

Naruto recognized that as Konohamaru's voice. He was about to turn the corner when he heard another voice.

"I hate punks like you shrimp. I think I'll teach you some respect for your betters.

"I suggest you don't do anything stupid Sand ninja", Naruto heard Sakura say. "We may be allies but assaulting the Hokage's grandson wouldn't be a good idea. At the very least you would be banned from the Chunin exams, which I assume is the reason you're in the village."

As Naruto sneaked his way behind the Sand ninja another voice was heard.

"You better not get us in trouble Kankuro, just put the kid down and let's go. You don't want _HIM_ getting mad at us." As Naruto peaked through a hole in the fence he saw that the voice came from a pretty blond girl with a battle fan on her back. She had her hair in four pony tails and was wearing a grey battle kimono with a red sash around her waist. Naruto saw that the other Sand ninja was a transvestite in black kitty pajamas and was wearing makeup on his face; he also had a large object wrapped in bandages on his back. He had Konohamaru hanging by the front of his shirt.

"Don't worry Temari; I'm just going to have a little fun with these punks. It won't take long" said the transvestite.

"Fine, but I'm not part of this" said the blond as she crossed her arms.

Kankuro smirked as he raised his fist to punch Konohamaru. Sakura was about to make her move when…

"I wouldn't move if I where you". Kankuro felt the tip of a kunai press against the side of his neck. When Temari saw this she tried to go for her fan but she also felt a kunai press against her neck.

Sakura smiled as she saw Naruto and his clone stop the Sand siblings. She also noticed that both Sasuke and Gaara were looking carefully at him.

"Put Konohamaru down… or I'll end you" threatened Naruto, Kankuro had no choice but to comply. As soon as he was placed down Konohamaru ran behind Sakura. Both Narutos disappeared in puffs of smoke as the real Naruto walked from behind the fence and stood next to Sakura.

"Stupid brat, you'll pay for that" growled Kankuro as he took off the large bundle he had on his back. Temari also quickly grabbed her fan and prepared herself for a fight.

"That's enough!"

Everyone turned to look at the one that spoke. Temari and Kankuro paled when they saw that it was Gaara who had spoken…and he looked irritated.

"You're a disgrace to our village Kankuro".

"Gaara, it wasn't me…"

Gaara glared at him. "Shut up… or I'll kill you" he said in a deadly calm voice. Needless to say Kankuro shut right up, Gaara then disappeared in a swirl of sand and re-appeared next to his siblings. Gaara turned to Naruto and spoke. "I apologize for my teammate's actions." He then turned to his siblings and said "Let's go, we didn't come here to play games".

"Ok, sure Gaara" said a scared Kankuro. As the Sand ninja started to leave Sasuke jumped down from the tree he was sitting on.

"Hey kid, the one with the gourd on his back. What's your name?" he asked in an angry tone.

Gaara turned to see the boy that had been on the other side of the tree he had just been on. He stared at the raven haired boy for a second before he answered. "My name is Gaara of the desert."

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha" he said in an arrogant tone.

"I couldn't care less who you are" said Gaara which seriously pissed Sasuke off. Gaara then turned to look at Naruto. "But you, I sense something strong with in you. What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki".

"I hope we face each other in the exams Naruto Uzumaki, I will enjoy killing you very much". Without another word the Sand ninja turned around and left.

"What the hell was wrong with that guy?" asked Naruto.

"Don't worry about it Naruto. It just means that the Chunin exams are going to be very interesting" said Sakura.

"I guess… oh well, let's get some ramen, I'm hungry" said a smiling Naruto. Sakura shook her head at his antics, she and the kids then followed a happy Naruto as he led them to Ichiraku's. None of them saw the glare that the young Uchiha was sending they're way.

**XxX**

"What do you think Dosu?" asked a black haired Sound ninja wearing camouflage clothing.

"The blond brat has some skill. The desert rat and the Uchiha we have to keep a close eye on" answered a mummy looking Sound ninja that only had one visible eye. He also wore camouflage clothing and had a large metal object on his right arm.

"Whatever you say Dosu, I can't wait to destroy the lot of them" said Zaku.

"Let's go, we have to prepare for the exam" said Dosu as he led his team away.

**XxX**

At the ramen stand Sakura was going through her plans for the Chunin exams. There were so many things that were raiding on what would happen in the next few days. She had to make sure that Orochimaru didn't place the curse seal on Sasuke. She also wanted to make sure none of her friends got hurt. Most importantly she wanted to let the Hokage know about the invasion without bringing more attention to herself. It was going to be a lot of work but Sakura wasn't about to give up. She was going to do whatever it took to change the future… no matter what the cost.

**XxX**

Well there you have it. I'm sorry for the late update but I have been trying to catch up on my reading list among other things. For those waiting for the next Heir of Whirlpool update I will have it out sometime in the next few days.

As always I want to thank my friend **JS** for the help with the spelling and grammar.

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

First I would like to thank everyone that took the time to review my story last chapter, thanks, I really appreciate it. Secondly I would like to a dress something that has been mention a few times in my reviews and P.M's.

Ok so some people have been asking why I'm making Naruto and Sakura a couple if they are related via the whole Senju/Uzumaki connection. Well the answer is very simple as far as I can think… They are NOT related by blood, and this is why. First of all Mito Uzumaki was married to the FIRST Hokage not the second who Sakura is related to, so Sakura has no Uzumaki blood in her like say, Tsunade. Now unless I missed it, (which is possible), Kishimoto never specifically said Naruto was a directly related to Mito Uzumaki, she was just from the same clan; so Naruto has no Senju blood in him, that means the only relation they would have as far as clans go, would be through a distant marriage that is several generations old.

I admit I might have missed something or maybe Kishimoto changed something in the newer manga, but as far as I know they haven't. And if they have? Well, this is fan-fiction so I'm changing it to fit my story so tough. Now that I have addressed that situation let's get on with the story, please review and let me know what you think.

**Chapter 15**

Sakura smiled as Team Seven made their way through the academy building. It was just like last time; they made it to the second floor and quickly noticed the weak Genjutsu that had been placed. Just like last time Izumo and Kotetsu were under a Transformation Jutsu to make each other look younger. Just like last time Lee and Tenten were pretending to be weak to not draw attention to themselves.

"You weaklings are taking the Chunin exams? When you can't even get past us?" asked Izumo

"Please let us through, we are supposed to go in there" said Tenten.

"We're doing you a favor, people die in these exams; if you can't handle us then there is no way you're ready to participate" said Kotetsu.

"Real nice speech losers… now step aside and let me through. I don't have time to waste with trash".

Sasuke's arrogant voice brought Sakura out of her thoughts. She turned to look at him to stop him from running his mouth but was too late.

"And drop your pathetic Genjutsu, nobody is falling for it."

Sakura had to stop herself from palming her face at Sasuke's idiocy. By the many confused looks it was obvious that several of the weaker competitors did fall for the Genjutsu.

"So, you noticed our illusion did you? Well let's see you deal with this!'' Izumo then charged at Sasuke. Sasuke, seeing this, did the same; both aiming powerful kicks at each other. Neither Izumo nor Sasuke noticed the green blur that appeared between them just before their blows connected. They both were surprised to see their attacks stopped rather easily; just as Lee released both Sasuke and Izumo Sakura heard another familiar voice.

"What happened to the plan Lee?" Sakura saw Neji and Tenten walk up to Lee with disapproving looks on their faces, "I thought it was your idea to keep a low profile and not show our real skill level," continued Neji.

"I know but…" It was then that Sakura realized Lee was looking at her… with a blush on his face.

"_Oh hell, I forgot about this,"_ thought Sakura in horror. Before she could do anything Lee was already in front of her, holding one of her hands as he made the same declaration that he made in the previous timeline.

"My name is Rock Lee; your name is Sakura right?" he asked. Sakura could only nod as she looked at Naruto out of the corner of her eye… Naruto looked pissed. Lee then took his 'nice guy' pose and said, "Please be my girlfriend, I vow to protect you with my life," as Lee finished a familiar sparkle appeared from his smile.

Seeing that Naruto was ready to explode Sakura answered before a fight broke out. "Sorry but I can't accept being your girlfriend Lee. I already have someone that will protect me with his life." When Sakura saw Lee's shoulders sag in misery she couldn't help herself. "Besides, who knows, maybe the person you're meant to be with is closer to you than you think".

While her words seemed to perk Lee up Sakura glanced at the bun-haired girl that would become Lee's wife. It had not been easy for Lee and Tenten, she had been in love with Neji for years and when they got together shortly before the war began, everyone thought they would eventually marry. Unfortunately, two years after they got together, just as Neji was planning to propose to Tenten, his clan got in the way. Neji was considered one of the most powerful Hyuuga members; the Hyuuga council didn't want his powerful blood to be weakened by an outsider. So the Hyuuga elders made Neji a deal, if Neji agreed to marry a Main Branch Hyuuga member, they would remove the Cage Bird Seal and accept him into the Main Branch. Originally Neji refused, until the Elders said they would allow Neji to take Tenten as a concubine. So long as he produced a _TRUE_ Hyuuga heir first they didn't care if Neji and Tenten were together. Neji, seeing a chance to have his freedom and be with the woman he loved immediately agreed, only to then find out that Tenten refused to except the deal. Tenten was always a very proud woman, she said that she could never agree to being someone's second. Neji begged Tenten to reconsider because he had already agreed to marry a Hyuuga but Tenten stood firm in her beliefs. Even though it pained her to lose the man she loved, she would not lose her dignity as a woman. Lee was the one that helped Tenten throughout everything. And a few years later they were happily married. Hinata said Neji was happy for them, even though his own marriage was a cold loveless burden which he despised.

"You heard Sakura, back off bushy-brows" growled Naruto.

"And who are you?" asked Lee as he and Naruto glared at each other. Before Naruto could start Sakura interrupted.

"He is my teammate, Naruto, and we really have to get going or else we're going to be late," she said, giving Naruto a stare that meant she was not taking no for an answer. "See you at the exams Lee." After that Sakura was able to lead Sasuke and Naruto to the third floor, she noticed that Lee didn't follow them to challenge Sasuke this time, perhaps it was because she had not been such a bitch this time. When they made it to the top they were met by Kakashi.

"Glad to see you all made it," he said as he placed his book away. "I'm proud of all of you, I couldn't have asked for a better team. Now go, and good luck" he said as he stepped out of the way and let them in the door.

"Thanks sensei, we promise to do our best," said Sakura.

"Believe it!" said Naruto and Sasuke just nodded as they all walked in the room.

**XxX**

Team Seven walked in to see many teams glaring at them. Unlike last time it didn't bother Sakura at all. Before too long a familiar was heard.

"Sasuke, where have you been?" the exited voice of Ino Yamanaka came from behind them. Sakura turned to see Ino hanging off Sasuke's back. She shook her head at her friend's antics.

"Get off Ino" growled Sasuke and was of course ignored.

"Stop being troublesome Ino," the familiar bored tone of Shikamaru was heard. "So you guys are here too huh? I knew this was going to be a drag, but I didn't know it was going to be this lame".

Naruto smirked at Shikamaru and Choji as they joined them. "So the rest of the three stooges are here too".

"Hey you know what pipsqueak… ah forget it, you're not worth it", said Shikamaru. Just as Sakura remembered, they didn't have to wait long for all of them to hear another familiar voice.

"Well well, what do you know, looks like the whole gang is together again". Everyone turned to see Kiba and the rest of Team Eight join them.

"Hey there Hinata" greeted Naruto with a big smile on his face.

A blushing Hinata answered him, "Hello N-Naruto".

"You guys too, man everyone is here for this stupid thing," grumbled Shikamaru.

"Hey Kiba did you get a haircut recently?" asked Choji

Kiba glared at Sakura who only grinned at him. Before he could answer everyone heard a voice that made Sakura's blood boil.

"Hey you guys may want to keep it down a little".

"_Kabuto!"_ thought Sakura. Kabuto was one of her main targets; he was responsible for raising an army of dead ninja that cost many lives during the first major battle between the ninja alliance and Madara's army. Kabuto needed to be taken out as soon as possible along with Orochimaru and the rest of Akatsuki.

"I know you're all rookies and all, but I wouldn't go around making a spectacle out of yourselves so just cool it. This isn't a school field trip you know".

"Well who asked you? Who are you anyway?" asked an annoyed Ino.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi, but really, look around you?" he said tilting his head towards the rest of the room. Sure enough everyone in the room was glaring fiercely at the rookies trying to intimidate them. "This exam makes everyone touchy, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way right now."

"Well if you're such an expert why don't you enlighten us, Kabuto was it?" asked Sakura.

"I guess I can help you rookies out a bit" answered Kabuto. Just like last time Kabuto went on to tell them about the different villages that were participating in the exams. Like last time Sasuke asked about individual members and asked about Lee and Gaara; unlike last time he was not the only one.

"I want to know everything you have on Team Seven of the Village Hidden in the Leaves". It was Kiba that asked the last question to everyone's surprise.

Kabuto smirked. "Sure thing, let's see," he said as he picked a different card. "Team Seven is made up of Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki; Jonin is Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke Uchiha is the last of the Uchiha Clan; he was this year's rookie of the year. Sasuke has impressive Taijutsu and an affinity for Fire Ninjutsu. It also says here that he recently activated his Clan's Doujutsu, the famous Sharingan."

Sakura couldn't help but notice that instead of getting upset at his abilities being made public Sasuke had a smug look on his face.

"Next is Naruto Uzumaki, an orphan. He was this year's dead last; he has abysmal Taijutsu and nonexistent skill in Genjutsu. He however, has massive chakra reserves and an affinity to Wind Ninjutsu. It also says that he somehow defeated a B-rank missing ninja on his last mission. I admit that's pretty impressive."

Unlike Sasuke, Naruto did look pissed and worried about what was said about him.

"Finally there is Sakura Haruno. She was the Kunoichi of the year, and has shown impressive skill in Genjutsu. She has perfect chakra control and has even shown signs of having some skill in Medical Ninjutsu. It was recently discovered and confirmed that she is a descendant of the Second Hokage and as such a member of the Senju Clan. She also took down a B-rank missing ninja in her last mission. She apparently has a very high affinity to Water Ninjutsu and a secondary affinity to Earth Ninjutsu. Wow this team sure has some potential," said Kabuto.

Sakura wanted to rip the traitor's head off. Aside from the stunned looks on the rookie's faces, there were now many other Gennin teams paying close attention to her team now. She just knew this was going to be bad later on. She and Naruto were saved from having to say anything by the Sound Team attacking for Kabuto's earlier insults to their village. The scene played itself out just like the last time, and like last time they were interrupted by Ibiki entering the room.

"Alright you maggots shut up and listen up!" yelled Ibiki. Ibiki introduced himself than proceeded to explain the test in the same manner that he did last time. Once the participants were seated the exam got underway. Sakura easily finished the test and waited to implement her plan, as she waited Sakura discretely looked around the room and saw how the other rookies were getting the answers to the test. It was as she did this that her waiting was over, Sakura smiled as she felt a foreign presence enter her mind.

**XxX**

"_Where the hell am I?"_ thought a very confused Ino. Ino had performed Mind Transfer Jutsu on Forehead in order to use Sakura's giant brain for her own gain. Ino was confused that instead of finding herself in possession of Sakura's body; Ino was in some kind of dark empty room.

"Well look what the pig dragged in"

Ino spun around to see who had just spoken; it was supposed to be impossible for the person to know when a member of her clan entered a person's mind with this jutsu. "Who's there?" asked a slightly scared Ino.

"Who do you think Piggy?" before Ino could answer she found herself being squeezed by what looked like a giant Sakura. This Sakura was different though; she looked like a cartoon drawing and had a psychotic look in her eyes.

"This is impossible! Let me go Sakura!" yelled Ino.

"Now why would I do that Piggy? I wonder what would happen to the real you if I started tearing your little piggy limbs off, why don't we find out, shall we?" the 'inner' Sakura asked in a maniacal tone of voice.

"Y-you w-wouldn't d-dare, would y-you?" stammered a now terrified Ino.

"No she wouldn't."

Ino looked down and was completely in shock as she saw another Sakura step out of the shadows. This Sakura was also way different than what Ino expected. The second Sakura looked more like Sakura's mother because she appeared to be in her late thirties. She was wearing a different variation of Sakura's red battle dress (look at my avatar to see what I mean).

"S-Sakura? Is that you? What the hell is going on?" asked a frantic Ino.

"Relax Pig," said Sakura and with a snap of her fingers the 'inner' Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a dazed and bewildered Ino with the older Sakura. "Now why don't we get down to business, shall we?"

"What are you talking about? And why do you look like a hotter version of your mom?" asked Ino.

"We're in my mind Pig, I can make myself look like whatever I want, but that isn't important right now. What is important is the test your about to fail, that is unless you take the deal I'm going to offer you".

"And what deal is that?" asked Ino still wary of Sakura.

"Simple really, you can copy my answers and give them to your team. All that I ask is that you use your jutsu to help Naruto get the answers too. Your team and my team pass, it's a win-win situation don't you think?"

"Umm I guess that works, I'll get Naruto the answers first then my teammates ok?"

"That works for me, now hurry if you're going to have enough time," with that the room faded from Ino's view and she found herself in possession of Sakura's body.

**XxX**

At another part of the exam room Hinata looked on as Naruto appeared to be having a nervous breakdown. She was very happy when she was seated next to Naruto; she wanted to help him because she knew that these kinds of test were hard for him.

"Umm Naruto, y-you can copy of my paper if you want to" she whispered at him.

Naruto turned to look at her which made her face heat up. "What did you…" as was turning to look at her, Hinata saw him suddenly tense up before going slack. She was about to asking him if something was wrong when Naruto suddenly shook his head and sat straight.

"This is so not cool," whispered Naruto to himself.

"Umm are you ok Naruto?" asked a cornered Hinata.

'_Naruto'_ turned to look at her, when he did '_Naruto'_ suddenly got a very disturbing grin on his face. "Why yes I am Hinata, thank you for asking."

"W-why is your voice different?" she asked.

"Maybe sitting next to such beautiful girl like you is making me nervous?" he said in a flirty voice.

"W-what?" was all Hinata managed before her face so red steam was coming off of it, Hinata promptly fainted after that.

"Too easy" said _'Naruto'_. "Now, to write down the test answers" he said. A few minutes later Naruto came to and was very confused. His test was all done and Hinata was passed out next to him, weird. The rest of the test went by much like last time. The only difference was that Naruto didn't speak up thanks to having his test full; this caused several more teams to walk out before Ibiki let everyone know that they had passed the first exam. Ibiki explained the meaning of the test and why it had been taken the way it was, he was about to begin to tell everyone about the next test when he was interrupted by a large object crashing through the window.

There was an explosion that filled the room with smoke. Once the smoke cleared there was another familiar person standing in the front of the participants. She was a woman in her mid-twenties; she had purple hair that was tied in a somewhat spiky ponytail. She had pupil-less brown-colored eyes and was wearing a tan overcoat. She was fitted with a mesh body suit that stretched down from her neck to her thighs. She wore a small dark-orange miniskirt and tan shin guards, and while she didn't wear a bra, the mesh shirt covered her chest enough to not show anything too private. The distraction her attire along with her impressive bust size created was easy to see on the male participants. Behind the woman was a large sign. It read, THE SEXY AND SINGLE, ANKO MITARASHI: PROCTER OF THE SECOND EXAM!

"This is no time to celebrate maggots, I'm the proctor for the second exam, and my name is Anko Mitarashi. I hope you're ready so let go!" Anko yelled.

Silence…

"You're early… again!" said Ibiki. Anko blushed in embarrassment. Anko then looked around the room saw how few teams were left.

"Only 24 teams left, not bad Ibiki. But by the time I'm done with them, there will be less than half of them left," she said with a smirk that sent shivers down the spines of many people in the room. "This is going to be fun!" said Anko, her smirk never leaving her face.

**XxX**

Well there you have the next chapter; I hope all of you enjoyed it. Next chapter will be the second exam and finally some action. Let me know what you liked or didn't like, please review!

As always I want to thank my friend **JS **for helping with the grammar/spelling.

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

I want to thank everyone for the reviews for the last chapter. I know it has been a while since I last updated, and I apologize for that. Unfortunately I have been going through a difficult situation. The company that I have been working for the last 6 years was sold to another company. This as it is often the case resulted with nearly 70% of the employees, yours truly included, being let go. And believe me living in southern California is expensive. I'm currently unemployed, and looking for work will be my main focus right now, the only reason I'm updating is because I was done with this chapter and was only waiting to have it edited. I don't know how much I will be able to work on my stories so please be patient with the updates; I will get them out as soon as I can.

Anyway, please review and let me know what you think.

**XxX**

**Chapter 16**

The Gennin participating in this year's Chunin Exams stood in front of a gated, heavily-wooded area that just screamed 'DANGER!'

"What is this place?" Naruto asked Sakura in a whisper.

"I'm sure they'll let us know Naruto."

As if to answer Naruto's question, Anko appeared in front of the gathered Gennin and spoke. "This is the location for the second face of the Chunin Exams, it's the 44th battle training ground but we call it… The Forest of Death! And soon enough you'll all find out why".

Naruto didn't look convinced. "Do your worst lady, you're not going to scare me off; I can handle anything!" he boasted with confidence.

Anko smirked. Before Naruto could blink a kunai flew passed his face, grazing his cheek. Naruto tried to react but before he could take any action Anko appeared behind him.

"You know, its guys like you that are always the first to die; always leaving their blood all over this forest." Anko than licked the blood from Naruto's wound making him shiver.

Sakura was not having it! Before Anko noticed Sakura was behind her with a Kunai pressing into her back.

"I suggest you let go of my teammate… NOW!" she threatened.

Anko was mildly surprised that a Gennin managed to get so close to her without her sensing it but was more amused that Pinky was actually threatening her. "You know, you shouldn't get so close to me unless you want your life to end prematurely Pinky" said Anko with a sadistic smirk.

Sakura smirked back, "You can try anyway, but you'd be in for a big surprise. Now let him go".

Anko chuckled. "I like you Pinky. Don't worry, I'm not going to steal your boyfriend from you. Young, blond and dumb are not really my type; plus he's short too" said Anko with a smirk as she let go of Naruto.

"Hey! I'm not dumb!" yelled Naruto in outrage.

"Whatever shorty." Anko then went back to the front of the Forest's gates and addressed the Gennin. "Now before we begin this test, I have something to handout to all of you" she said as she pulled out some papers from her coat. "It's just a standard consent form that states that I'm not responsible for your death or anything else that might happen to you in the forest. And before you ask; if you don't sign this, then you won't be able to continue to participate in the exam." Anko then went on to explain the exam. She told them about the Forest of Death and what they had to do to pass the exam. Anko also told them about the Earth and Heaven scrolls and what they needed to do to get them. "Now any questions?" Anko asked.

"How long will we have to accomplish the task?" asked a Gennin from the Hidden Rain Village.

"You have five days to get to the tower with both scrolls" answered Anko.

"FIVE DAYS? What will we do for food?" asked a horrified Choji.

"Don't worry there's lots of plants and animals you can eat" Anko said to Choji's dismay.

Once all questions were answered and all forms were filled, the remaining participants were lined up at separate gates. Once the gates opened, the test was on!

**XxX**

The moment he gates opened, the teams rushed into the forest. Sakura knew that this was the time to try and change things. She knew that it was only a matter of time before Orochimaru made his move to mark Sasuke. Sakura understood that she wants strong enough to win in a fight against him, but she had to find a way to keep him from marking Sasuke with the Curse Mark. Her plan was to quickly find the scroll they needed and get to the tower as fast as possible. Not much of a plan she admitted, but a better plan than trying to fight off a Sannin.

"We're being followed" whispered Sakura as her team made their way through the forest.

"Are you sure?" asked Sasuke

"Yes, it's only one person though. I can't sense any other chakra signatures".

"I didn't know you were a sensor" said Sasuke in an accusatory tone.

"I'm not, but you don't have to be a sensor-type to know your being followed by someone that can't hide their chakra well" she responded. Sasuke was more pissed that he couldn't sense anybody that at Sakura but before he could continue to argue with her Naruto cut in.

"So what are we going to do about it?" he asked.

Sakura smiled. "I have a plan. Listen to this…"

Several minutes later Team Seven stopped in a small clearing. Naruto rather loudly told his team that he needed to go pee. After getting disgusted looks from his teammates Naruto made his way into the forest for some privacy. A couple minutes later Naruto walked out with a smile on his face.

"Man that was a lot, I wrote my whole name" said 'Naruto'. Sasuke and Sakura grinned and evil grin at him. "What are you guys grinning about?" he asked. His answer was the feeling of a Kunai pressed on his throat. 'Naruto' tilted his head to see a second Sasuke holding the Kunai, his eyes moved back to the other Sasuke only to see this one transform into a second Naruto.

"Did you really believe we didn't notice that you were following us?" said Sasuke in an arrogant tone.

'Naruto' then transformed into a Rain Ninja; "How did you make the switch? I had my eyes on you the entire time" said the foreign ninja.

"Sakura was able to place you under a Genjutsu while we made the switch, now where is your scroll?" asked Sasuke pressing the Kunai hard enough to draw blood.

"I don't have it," said the Rain Ninja. Before he could saw more Sasuke hit him in the back of his head knocking Rain Ninja out. After searching him Sasuke was able to make sure that he didn't have a scroll on him.

"Well that was a bust. What do we do with him?" asked Naruto pointing to the unconscious ninja.

"We kill him and go" said Sasuke as if it was common sense.

"What? We can't do that!" yelled Naruto.

"Why not? He would do the same to us" retorted Sasuke.

"But…"

"Sasuke is right Naruto." Naruto turned to look at Sakura in shock. He didn't know that this guy and his teammates would cause trouble for them in more than one occasion. Sakura didn't feel like dealing with any extra problems than she already had to. "If you let him go now he will be able to re-join his team and they can attack us later in the exam. I know you don't like it but it's what our mission calls for right now. It's our duty to make it to the tower and at the same time prevent as many teams to make it there, besides, it's not like he's a Leaf Ninja; Rain Village is an known enemy of the Leaf."

Naruto didn't like it. He knew what Sakura was saying was true, but he still felt it was wrong. "Fine" he said and started to walk away.

"You can take care of it right?" Sakura asked Sasuke.

"Yes, go and babysit the loser in case he starts crying" said the Uchiha. Sakura glared at him then left to go after Naruto. Sasuke re-joined them a few minutes later, "it's done, let's go" he said.

Team Seven traveled for several minutes before felt three chakra signatures following them. One was definitely Orochimaru; she knew that her plan was ruined. Now all she could hope for was that her back up plan worked.

**XxX**

_(One hour before the start of the second exam)_

Konohamaru and his friends were making their way to the location of second exam so they could interview some of the participants for the academy newspaper. As they walked through an alley, a female ninja wearing and Anbu style clothing and mask. However, there was something different about this ninja, something that put all of them on edge.

Konohamaru stepped in front of his friends. "Who are you? And what do you want?"

The '_Anbu'_ reached for her weapons pouch, causing the kids to stiffen. They relaxed when what the ninja pulled out was a scroll. "Take this to your grandfather. Tell him the village is in danger and that the snake has returned to hunt for the Uchiha." She then threw the scroll to Konohamaru how caught it.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" asked Konohamaru but the '_Anbu'_ disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"What are we going to do Konohamaru?" asked Moegi.

Konohamaru thought for a second. "I think we should take this to my grandpa. There was something wrong with that Anbu." Without delay the three children changed direction and headed for the Hokage Tower. The children didn't notice that the 'Anbu' was watching them from a roof as they left. Once they were gone, the 'Anbu' disappeared in a puff of smoke, one of the signatures tells of a shadow clone.

**XxX**

The Third Hokage was in his office working on some paperwork when his secretary walked in.

"Lord Hokage, your grandson and his friends are here to see you. Konohamaru said it was very important."

Sarutobi sighed. "I see, I could use a break from my work. Let them in."

"Yes Sir."

Moments later Konohamaru and his friends walked in. Konohamaru walked up to his grandfather's desk and placed the scroll that had been given to him by the weird female Anbu. "Hey grandpa, an Anbu I've never seen before gave me this and told me I had to give it to you. She said it was very important" said Konohamaru.

Sarutobi didn't let it show, but he was immediately concerned. He had given strict orders to Konohamaru's Anbu detail not to be seen, unless there was a life and death situation. "I see, well let me read it then," Sarutobi began to read the scroll.

_Hiruzen Sarutobi_

_Lord Hokage, I am an individual who is interested in preserving the safety of the Leaf Village. I have come by the information that Orochimaru is the founder and leader of the newly established Sound Village. As disturbing as these news are, I'm afraid that it gets much worse. At great risk to myself I have discovered that Orochimaru has acquired an alliance with the Kazekage and plans to attack the Leaf Village during the finals of the Chunin Exams. Furthermore, I know for a fact that Orochimaru is currently in disguise and plans to go after Sasuke Uchiha for an unknown reason. It is my hope that you can use this information not only to protect Sasuke Uchiha and the Leaf Village but perhaps to try and save the alliance between the Sand and Leaf. I don't believe Orochimaru plans to keep whatever promises he made to the Sand village; in fact, I have reasons to believe that he plans to assassinate the Kazekage and take his place before he arrives for the exam finals._

_I know this information seems incredible, but the second exam will soon prove that it is accurate. At the very least send an Anbu squad to shadow the Uchiha's team for his own safety. Please take this warning seriously; it may be the only one you get._

Sarutobi frowned. If this was some sort of joke, someone was going to be punished, severely. He turned to look at his grandson. "Thank you for bringing this to me, you did a good job; all of you. Now, I still have lost of work to do, so why don't you three go have fun."

"Ok grandpa, I'll see you later" said Konohamaru as he and his friends walked out of the office.

As soon as the door was closed… "BOAR, TIGER!"

As if materializing out of no wear, two Anbu appeared kneeling in front of the Hokage. "Explain" he said.

While still looking down, Boar began to speak. "Approximately 40 minutes ago as the honorable grandson and his friends were making their way to the Forest of Death; they were confronted by an unknown female ninja wearing Anbu-style armor. Tiger and I prepared to intervene should she prove to be hostile. However after handing them what looked like a scroll, the unknown ninja used the Body Flicker Technique to leave them. While Tiger remained with the children I prepared to pursue, but I was unable to: the ninja turned out to be a shadow clone."

"This is troubling. If this scroll is telling the truth, then the village is in great danger. But at the same time this can be some sort of trap" said Sarutobi. He was thinking of what the person that gave him this scroll could gain if this was a trap. "It would be foolish to simply ignore this warning. For now assemble two Anbu squads and station them near the Forest of Death. Once the second exam starts have them enter the forest and track down Kakashi's team. Have them keep an eye on them, but not to intervene unless the information is correct and Orochimaru actually gets involved in the exam."

"Yes Lord Hokage" both Anbu said before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

The Third Hokage looked at the scroll again. He hoped it was not true, but something in his gut told him it was. He had to find out who gave him this scroll and find out just how much they knew about Orochimaru's plans.

**XxX**

Back in the Forest of Death Sakura had been biding her time. Like the first time, Naruto had been separated from herself and Sasuke. Also like the first time, Orochimaru had transformed into Naruto to try and get close to them… and had paid for it via a kunai to his right shoulder from Sakura. An enraged Orochimaru had quickly retaliated with a vicious kick to Sakura's sternum that sent her crashing in a tree and almost knocked her unconscious. There is where she waited for an opening while Orochimaru toyed with Sasuke. It had been difficult for her to remain there, pretending to be unconscious when she heard Naruto arrive. Sakura felt as a furious Naruto unleash the Fox's chakra; she used this distraction to switch herself with a shadow clone. Naruto luckily managed to stay in control and didn't use enough chakra to manifest any fox tails. Orochimaru knew that Naruto would be trouble and wasted no time in taking him out by placing the Five Pronged Seal on him. Sakura had to use the shadow clone that she was using as a decoy to save Naruto from falling to his death.

"I'm very disappointed in you Sasuke. I expected so much more from Itachi's brother… what a pity" Orochimaru said in a mocking tone. "Perhaps I should be more interested in your pink-haired teammate; at least she actually managed to injure me. That's not something easily done, and certainly more than you have been able to do".

"I'll show you who's the strongest!" screamed Sasuke as he charged at Orochimaru.

Sakura cursed Sasuke's stupidity as she had to reveal her real self by blocking his way.

"Don't be stupid Sasuke, that's what he…" Sakura was cut off as Sasuke backhanded her.

"Out of my way! I'm an Uchiha, I don't need anyone tell me what to…ARGGGG!" Sasuke himself was cut off when he felt something bite him on the shoulder, which was followed by an intense pain that brought him to his knees. Sasuke saw as Orochimaru's snake-like neck retreated back to his body.

"Sorry to have to cut our little game short, but I can sense several Anbu heading this way. Consider that a gift Sasuke. If you manage to survive, come and seek me out if you want to wield real power. Until then, it was fun playing all of you. Perhaps if your teammate proves herself, I will consider giving her my power too" Orochimaru said as his body sank into the ground.

"Dammit! You stupid arrogant fool!" raged Sakura as she saw the Curse Mark appear in Sasuke's skin while he continued to scream. Sakura also noticed the presence of several Anbu that had just arrived. She was mad that she couldn't hold Orochimaru off until they arrived but had no choice but to go with another plan now. "I know someone's there" she said as she pull out a kunai. "Come out and show yourself!" several seconds later a single Anbu landed in front of Sakura.

"Gennin Sakura Haruno, explain what happened here" said the Anbu. Sakura told them an edited version of what happened keeping some things to herself. Sakura played the part of a surprised Gennin well and they couldn't contradict her. "Very well, we have a second squad searching for Orochimaru as we speak. We will escort you to the tower so you can rec…"

"No, that won't be necessary" answered Sakura.

The Anbu paused. "Why would you not want to be escorted to the tower so your teammates can receive medical attention?"

"Because we would be disqualified" answered Sakura.

"Under the circumstances the Hokage will let your team get a pass to the next round".

"And that will make us look weak. No, I will not give anyone a chance to say that we didn't earn our place in this exam. Both Naruto and Sasuke only have minor injuries and will be awake in a few hours. Until them I can handle anything that comes our way."

"Very well then. We will be leaving and report your choice to the Hokage."

**XxX**

Several hours later Sakura finally felt the last of the Anbu leave. She and a shadow clone had carried Naruto and Sasuke to the same tree hollow that she had used the first time. She was able to easily remove the seal that Orochimaru placed on Naruto. It was the dammed Curse Seal that was the problem. In the future Naruto had never figured out how Itachi removed it from Sasuke. This meant that Sakura had to do something that she had hoped to prevent. She didn't like it, but she had to do what she had to in order to protect the future. With a heavy heart Sakura opened storage scroll and unsealed a small ink jar and brush; all Sakura could do is hope that Naruto would never find out and if he did… that he would forgive her for what she was about to do.

**XxX**

Hours later Sakura was awakened by the sound of explosions going off around her hiding spot. This brought a sinister smile to Sakura's face. They were finally here. Sakura calmly walked outside to an amusing sight, for her anyway. The team from the sound village was standing (barely) in front of her. Unlike last time, Sakura's traps round the perimeter of her hiding place had done major damage to the Sound Team. They all had several deep cuts and burns all over their bodies; they were out of breath and looked like they were ready to drop. But by the pissed off look on their faces, they still wanted a fight. Well, Sakura was more than willing to give it to them.

"Looks like all of you had some trouble with my traps" said an amused Sakura.

"You bitch! I'll freaking kill you" screamed Zaku.

"No, you won't." Sakura immediately flew through hand signs and slammed her hands on the ground. "**Earth Style: Chains of the Underworld Jutsu**". Before the Sound Team could do anything, chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around their arms, legs, and bodies; they were completely unable to move.

"What the hell? Let us go or…"

"Or what? Didn't you just say you were going to kill me? No, I think I'll just take your scroll" said Sakura as she walked towards Dosu. Just as she was going to reach in to his jacket, a sound blast erupted from Dosu's gauntlet and the pressure pushed Sakura back a few feet.

"Fool, did you think I would be helpless so easily? I don't need to move my arm to use my jutsu. Let's see if you can hold your jutsu with the affects from my attack" said Dosu in mocking tone. He was surprised to see Sakura smirk.

"I think I'll be able to keep up my jutsu just fine, seeing that your jutsu won't be affecting me at all" said Sakura with a growing smirk.

"Impossible! It was a direct hit. You should be feeling the damage to your inner-ear and eardrum. You shouldn't be able to move."

Sakura made a single hand sign and the chain around Dosu's gantlet started to constrict tighter and tighter until a loud cracking sound was heard followed by a scream of pain.

"Bitch! You broke his arm" yelled Kin.

"Sorry, did you say something?" mocked Sakura. "I can't hear you because I used my chakra to create a barrier that stops all sound from entering my ears. But now that your little toy is broken I don't need it anymore."

"How?" gasped Dosu through obvious pain. "How did you know how to block my attack?"

Sakura was already digging through his coat, and she happily surprised when she pulled not one but two scrolls from it. "A complete set, well, that sure makes thing easier. Oh and don't worry about how I knew about your attack. Neither of you three are going to be alive long enough to care" Sakura said causally.

"But you already have our scrolls…" started Kin

"Don't bother. I know that snake send you to attack my team. If it's any consolation to you, he was planning on killing you after the exams anyway." Sakura started to go to a series of hand-signs.

"Wait!"

"Stop"

"**Earth Style: Spiked Coffin Jutsu**" Sakura slammed her hands on the ground and three ancient looking coffins rose from the ground behind each of the Sound Ninja. When the opened it was revealed that the coffins had dozens of stone spikes that would kill anyone that was in them when the doors were closed. With another hand-sign the chains, that were now seen to be attached to the coffins, retracted; slamming the Sound Ninja into the opened coffins. They screamed in pain as they were impaled all over their bodies but were still alive when the doors closed on them. "**Earth Style: Shallow Grave Jutsu**". Sakura watched as her jutsu dragged the coffins back into the ground and once they were completely gone she returned to the tree hollow to look after her teammates.

Several minutes later she was happy to see Naruto wake up. She explained what happed to him but not much of what really happened to her or Sasuke. While Sakura and Naruto were talking Sakura sensed that there were several people outside. "Naruto I think we have company, are you ready for a fight? I can take the lead but if you can back me up we should be fine." In reality Sakura knew that aside from maybe Gaara she could take anyone in the exam but she would have to reveal more of her skill than she wanted to at the time.

"You know I'm always ready for a fight Sakura, let's go" answered Naruto.

Naruto and Sakura walked outside and scanned the area trying to see who was out there. Sakura could sense that the ones hiding were Ino and her team along with Lee and his team. Sakura figured they were drawn here by the explosions that were heard when the Sound Ninja appeared. Naruto created some shadow clones to flank them as they waited to see if either team made a move.

**XxX**

With Team 10:

"So what do you guys want to do" asked Choji.

"I say we can take them. It looks like Sasuke is hurt, and this would be the best time to go after them" said Ino.

"Yeah and if Sasuke was awake you would be complaining about going after his team" said Shikamaru.

"Whatever, what are we waiting for?" she said impatiently.

"We're waiting because unlike you I have been paying attention. We're not the only ones here. I say we wait and see what happens.

"Sure" said Choji.

"Fine" said Ino.

**XxX**

With Team Guy:

"The Uchiha is unconscious; the other two shouldn't be much of a challenge. We'll take them now" said Neji as he deactivated his Byakugan.

"Ok" said Tenten.

Lee didn't look happy but nodded in agreement.

**XxX**

Sakura and Naruto had little time to react as dozens of kunai and shuriken rained down on them, dispelling several of Naruto's clones. They both escaped the attack unharmed but were met with opponents ready to continue the onslaught. Lee attacked Naruto while Neji was taking on Sakura.

Lee was using his speed to land several blows on Naruto while Naruto tried to block as many as he could with his bracers and shin guards. Naruto knew that if things continued like this he was going to lose so he used some of his remaining clones to draw Lee's attention. Lee was able to make quick work of them but Naruto had gained the few precious seconds he needed to make his move. Naruto hoped he didn't get killed for it later.

"**SEXY JUTSU: SAKURA STYLE!**"

Lee was stopped in his tracks as a naked Sakura stood before him with tiny clouds of smoke covering her most private areas. Within seconds Lee was blasted in to a tree by a massive nosebleed of epic proportions; Lee landed unconscious but with the biggest smile on his face.

Neji VS Sakura

"_I'm sooo going to KILL him for that"_ thought Sakura as she continued to avoid Neji's strikes. Sakura had heard Naruto's attack and could imagine the result. She would have to punish him later…without actually killing him, but maybe not too far off.

"You're better that I thought. Perhaps the Senju blood in you is stronger than I estimated" said Neji.

"Blood has nothing to do with one's skill. I have worked hard for my strength. But I suppose it helps that I'm familiar with your fighting style after working with Hinata."

Neji glared as he activated his Byakugan. "That weakling is nothing but a failure. To compare me to her is an insult you will soon regret!" Neji sneered at Sakura.

"I wouldn't count on that; look around you" she said, motioning to the clearing. With his Byakugan Neji was able to see what she meant. The clearing was filled with Naruto clones, dozens of them. And it looked like the real one had somehow maneuvered close enough to Tenten to engage her in close combat. Tenten was using a pair of Tonfa to keep Naruto and his clones at bay but Neji could see he was relentless and it was only a matter of time before she was overwhelmed.

"It doesn't matter, once I deal with you I will deal with that loser easily enough."

Just as Neji was about to make his next move a large burst of chakra came from the tree hollow that Sasuke was in. Sakura knew what it meant, and knew things were going to get sticky if Sasuke went berserk.

"I suggest you leave Neji. You can't take on all of us by yourself. I'm sure you can feel the chakra that is coming from Sasuke, believe me you don't want any part of it. Go now or you will be risking not only your life, but the lives of your teammates.

Neji may have been arrogant, but he wasn't stupid. He knew Sakura was right; it was time for a tactical retreat. "Tenten, grab Lee; we're leaving." He then turned to Sakura, "this isn't over Senju, and I will pay you back for that insult."

"It's Haruno, make sure you remember that" she answered.

Soon after that Team Guy was gone; just before Sasuke came out of the tree. Sakura was ready for it and before Sasuke could ask what was going on Sakura appeared behind him and used her medical Ninjutsu to knock Sasuke out again making the chakra from the Curse Mark disappear.

**XxX**

With Team 10

"Wow"

"No way"

"Troublesome"

"Did you see that? How did Naruto and Sakura get so good?" asked Choji.

"I don't know but we're lucky we didn't attack them. It would not have ended in our favor… what a drag" said Shikamaru.

"So what now?" asked Ino.

"We leave; I'm not going to mess with them now. The plan I had was with the assumption that we were evenly matched or that we were slightly stronger than them, which is obviously not the case. So we look for a different team and hope to get lucky" answered Shikamaru.

"Ok"

"Fine, let's go".

With that Team 10 left to look for a different opponent.

**XxX**

Several days later Team 7 was in the tower as the Hokage explained the reason for the Chunin Exams. Sakura and her team had been questioned about their encounter with Orochimaru once the made it to the tower. Sakura noticed that the same teams made it to the tower this time around, with the dead Sound Team being the only exception. Like last time when they asked if anybody wanted to quit, only Kabuto said he couldn't continue. Sakura had hoped to hunt down Kabuto or attack him if he tried to pull the same story of being separated from his team but they never saw him in the forest. She would have to get him later. Sakura's attention returned to the arena as Hayate was about to begin the preliminary matches. Sakura had to admit, she was curious as to how things were going to play out this time around. After all, without the Sound team, things couldn't be exactly as they were the first time. As the names began to flash, Sakura suddenly felt her chest tighten; a feeling of dread came over her. Then the names finally stopped, the first match of the preliminary exams was…

**Neji Hyuuga VS Hinata Hyuuga**

**XxX**

So there you have it. The fights start next chapter. Please review and let me know what all of you think.

For those of you that are waiting for the next Heir of Whirlpool chapter, please be patient. I am working on it; I will try to have it out as soon I can.

As always, I would like to thank my friend **JS**,for the help with the spelling and grammar.

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga/movie/show/book or game.**

"Talking_"_

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/ Summon"**

Thanks for everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I am happy to say that I am no longer unemployed. Over the last few weeks I have been getting used to a new routine. I have not had much time to write but I have not given up on my stories. Anyway please read and review to let me know what you all think about the latest chapter.

**CHAPTER 17**

**Neji Hyuuga VS Hinata Hyuuga**

"Oh you have to be kidding me…" muttered Sakura.

"Isn't he one of the three that attacked us in the forest? He's in bushy-brows team right?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, and he is also one of the strongest opponents in the exam; especially for Hinata because of some family issues they have," said Sakura. She turned to Hinata who looked like she was going to faint. Sakura could see that Hinata was breathing rapidly. Kurenai placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder and whispered something to her that helped. Hinata then slowly made her down to the battle area. Just as Hinata made it to the bottom she heard a shout.

"Go for it Hinata, I know you can win!" it was Naruto cheering for her. Sakura smiled and then she too cheered for her friend.

"That's right Hinata; just like training. You can do this!" Not to be outdone, Kiba joined in, Akamaru too. Hinata's heart swelled with joy. Her friends believed in her; Naruto believed in her. She would do her best. She would win!

Neji glared at Hinata as she made her way down, it appeared that fate had been kind to him for once in his life. He knew Hinata was an embarrassment to the Hyuuga. Neji could see the pampered little princess was afraid to face him, and she should be. That was until the moron in orange started yelling like an idiot. And worse: he was soon joined by the Senju and the fool with the mutt. Something in Hinata's eyes changed after hearing the other failures cheer for her. She showed more determination, more of a fierce intensity that Neji had never seen before in the shy girl. '_Well, this might actually be interesting after all,'_ he thought.

Once Neji and Hinata were facing each other Hayate ordered them to begin. Neji couldn't resist the temptation to ridicule Hinata before engaging.

"Before we begin I should tell you this. Withdraw now! A failure like you was never meant to be a ninja."

Hinata simply assumed her Gentle Fist stance and said "No".

Neji was surprised; he had expected his words would have more of an effect on her. "You're too kind and gentle, you seek harmony and avoid conflict; you are too easily influenced by others. Admit it, you have no confidence and feel inferior to everyone here."

Hinata took a calming breath before she answered Neji. "If you had told me this a few months ago you would have been right. But things have changed Neji, I have changed. I don't run away, I don't back down. A very important friend taught me that you are who you make yourself to be."

"You may think you have changed, but you haven't; you're still a failure, and a failure will always be a failure" he growled as he assumed his stance and activated his Byakugan.

Hinata didn't bother to answer; she activated her Byakugan and prepared for the match. At an unseen signal both Hyuuga charged at each other. They met with a flurry of strikes and dodges, their battle was so fast that the people around them only saw their attacks as blurs as both Hinata and Neji tried to strike and parry each other's attacks. This went on for several moments, and to an untrained eye the battle appeared evenly matched; but for those like Sakura, they could tell that slowly but surely Neji was gaining the upper hand. Then there was a sudden moment when Hinata appeared to have landed a direct hit on Neji. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see what happened. Sakura and Naruto were horrified when Hinata suddenly coughed up blood. Hinata didn't give up and tried to attack Neji again. Neji countered easily, grabbing her arm with one hand and striking one of her chakra points. Neji smirked as he pulled back Hinata's coat revealing that he had closed several chakra points in Hinata's left arm.

"You… mean that…"

"That's right Hinata; I could see your chakra points the whole time." Hinata immediately freed herself from Neji's grasp and jumped back a few feet.

"Look Hinata, I'm way out of your league, this is what separates the elite from the failures. You may not like it, but from the moment I was chosen as your opponent you're fate was sealed; you were destined to fail. This is your last warning Hinata, forfeit the match."

"I told you Neji, I don't run away and I don't go back on my word; because that is my ninja way."

"I see, well then…" Neji activated his Byakugan, "bring it," he said.

"You heard him Hinata!" it was Sakura that had yelled. "Show him and everyone here just how much you have changed!"

"That's right Hinata, you can do it! I believe in you!" yelled Naruto.

Hinata smiled. '_That's right, I can do this, I have changed.' _"I'm not the same Hinata that you used to know," she said. Neji's, and everyone else's, eyes went wide. Sakura smiled, she had known this was coming.

What everyone was staring wide-eyed at was Hinata's right hand, which began to glow a green color. She placed her glowing hand on her left arm and everyone saw Hinata's arm healing rapidly.

"Impossible!" said Neji in a whisper.

_(At the contestant viewing area)_

"Kurenai, when did you teach Hinata Medical Ninjutsu?" asked Kakashi.

"I didn't. I had no idea that she knew any Medical Ninjutsu. I knew she made some healing ointments but I didn't know she could do anything like this," said Kurenai. She was as surprised as anyone.

"If you didn't teach her this, then who did? I doubt her clan would teach her something like this," said Asuma.

"She learned it from me." Everyone turned to look at Sakura. "Hinata has almost perfect chakra control, and with her Byakugan, she would make an excellent medic for her team. I showed her the basics that I have learned and she learned them faster than I did when I started."

"But you're a Gennin! How do you even know Medical Ninjutsu?" asked Asuma.

"You know who Sakura is related to Asuma, it's in her blood," said Kakashi. That appeared to satisfy everyone so Sakura didn't say anything. She and everyone else turned their attention back to the match.

_(In the arena)_

Neji stared in disbelief as he saw Hinata heal the damage he had done to her chakra points. "You're a disgrace to the Hyuuga. To think you would fall so low that you would resort to Ninjutsu. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. Your skill in the Gentle Fist is pathetic, what other choice would a weakling like you have."

"You're wrong Neji. Our clan has let their arrogance blind them. They foolishly believe they are the most powerful; they believe any form of change is wrong. But as ninja we have to learn to change, we have to adapt, or else we are rendered obsolete. Increasing our skill and strength by learning new things should be encouraged, not scorned."

"This changes nothing Hinata, you are still destined to lose."

"If I lose today it won't be because fate decreed it, it will be because you were better than me. But even if that is the case, I won't make it easy for you." Hinata then activated her Byakugan and charged at Neji. Neji prepared to engage her again but he saw that something was different about Hinata's attack. Just as he was going to parry one of Hinata's trikes he realized what was different. Neji tried to dodge at the last minute but Hinata's attack grazed his right shoulder.

A surge of pain shot through Neji that nearly caused him to fall for Hinata's next strike; but he was able to fully avoid it. Neji didn't know exactly what Hinata was doing differently but he knew if Hinata's hands struck him he would regret it. All he could do at the moment was maneuver around her assaults; but Neji knew he had to do something else or he would lose the match. Neji gritted his teeth as he was forced to use his trump card. Just as Hinata was about to deliver a powerful strike…

"**Rotation!**"

Though he had not yet perfected the technique, Neji's counter-attack caught everyone by surprise; Hinata was blasted of her feet and was slammed into a nearby wall. When Neji stopped spinning he was breathing heavily; the attack had clearly taken a lot out of him. Much to everyone's shock, Hinata actually started to get up. Neji knew he couldn't let this match continue much longer as he was barely able to keep himself standing. Hinata made it to her feet but didn't get very far before a palm strike hit her in the chest, dropping her to her knees and forcing up more blood.

"It's over, no matter how much you try to run from fate, a failure will always be a failure." Neji slowly walked away. Hayate had seen enough and started to call the match when Hinata spoke.

"No… you have it wrong… Neji." Hinata slowly made it to her feet. It was clear she was in no condition to fight. "I can see it clearly… it is you who is running. You're running from your pain. Because you're afraid, you're the one who's suffering because of the differences between the Main and Branch houses."

Time seemed to stop for a second. Then a look of uncontrolled rage came to Neji's face. Several things happened next. Hayate yelled at Neji that the match was over when he saw Neji charge at Hinata. Neji only made it a few steps before he was suddenly surrounded. Guy had grabbed his student from behind while Kakashi had grabbed Neji's right hand. Hayate was in front of Neji blocking his way while Kurenai had grabbed Neji's left hand. Asuma was standing next to Kurenai with a cigarette in his mouth; he was looking on sheepishly because the other teachers had moved faster than him.

"Neji! You told me you wouldn't let this clan business get to you," said Guy.

"Why are you and the other Jonin butting in? The Main house gets more special treatment huh?" growled Neji.

"Perhaps you should pay better attention. Why don't you use those eyes you're so proud of and look over there," said Asuma as he tilted his head towards Hinata. "Then you will realize we're actually doing you a favor kid." Neji was confused by that; that is until he looked towards Hinata. What he saw made his eyes widen in surprise.

Standing in front of Hinata was a wall of orange clad Narutos, and they all looked pissed. At the center, flanking both sides of what must be the real Naruto, were a pair of feral-looking Kibas; Akamaru had used the man-beast clone. Hovering above them was a menacing black cloud of insects that were buzzing loudly in a clearly hostile manner. Standing behind the defensive wall was a stoic Shino who was standing guard as Sakura was working on an unconscious Hinata.

"Damn him! She has major damage to her heart. He nearly killed her," growled Sakura. She saw out of the corner of her eye that the medical staff was heading their way and Sakura knew they wouldn't be able to deal with this kind of injury. "Shino, I need more time to heal her, keep them away from us for a little longer," she said. Shino didn't bother to question her; without a word the cloud of insects made a wall that blocked the medical staff from reaching them.

"What do you think you're doing? She needs medical attention!" yelled one of the medics. Shino ignored them and watched attentively as Sakura's hand glowed green. Shino could see the concentration on Sakura's face as her chakra entered Hinata's body. It was happening slowly, but he was able to see Hinata's injuries begin to fade and color began to come back to Hinata's pale face. Shino didn't know much about medical Ninjutsu but he did know that what Sakura just did was something extremely advanced.

"You can let them take her now. Hinata is going to be ok," said Sakura, moving out of the way. Shino had his insects return to him and the medical team moved quickly to get to Hinata.

Naruto dispelled his clones and Kiba and Akamaru returned to normal. Naruto was still sending Neji a death-glare. Naruto heard Sakura say that Neji nearly killed Hinata. Naruto looked down to see some of the blood that Hinata had coughed up. Naruto bend down and ran his fingers through the blood getting it on his hand; he then stood up and glared at Neji. Neji saw this and smirked.

"Got something to say to me loser?" Neji thought he actually saw the blond's eyes flicker between blue and red.

Naruto pointed his bloodied fist at Neji. "I will make you pay fort this. I swear it!" said Naruto in a grave tone. Neji would never admit it, but he felt a cold shiver run down his spine.

"As if a pathetic failure like you could ever hope to match my power. You're no different than Hinata, and if we fight I will make sure to kick you down in the gutter where a loser like you belongs," Neji sneered before walking away.

"Ok, I need all of you to leave the arena for the next match," said Hayate. Once the arena was cleared the names for the next match were drawn.

**Yoroi Akado VS Rock Lee**

"Yessssss! It is my turn at last!" yelled Lee with passion.

It dint take long for both opponents to make their way down to the arena. Sakura was glad that Lee would not be hurt by this opponent like he was last time. But she was worried for whoever had to fight Gaara this time; she hoped it wasn't Naruto. Sakura knew Naruto was stronger than last time but she didn't think he could take Gaara at this time, not without using a lot of the Fox's chakra anyway.

The match itself wasn't very entertaining. Yoroi dint even get to try to absorb Lee's chakra. Lee used his amazing speed and put his opponent down rather quickly with a series of powerful Taijutsu moves.

**Temari VS Tenten**

This match was as painful to see the second time as it was the first time.

**Sasuke Uchiha VS Kiba Inuzuka**

This match was more even than Sakura would have thought. It appeared that Kiba had taken his loss to her very hard. Kiba had been pushing his training ever since and was giving Sasuke all he could handle. Sasuke had not fully recovered from the fight with Orochimaru. Sasuke was having a hard time dealing with both Kiba and Akamaru; their attacks were relentless. As a desperate last minute effort, Sasuke used a move he copied from Lee during his match and took out Kiba with the **Loin's Barrage.** With Kiba out, Hayate gave the match to Sasuke since Akamaru was not technically a combatant. Once Kiba was taken by the medics and Sasuke was taken by Kakashi the next match was announced.

**Sakura Haruno VS Gaara**

'_Are you kidding me? Why did it have to be him of all people?'_ thought Sakura.

"Good luck Sakura!" grinned Naruto.

"Thanks Naruto…I think I'm going to need it," she said before making her way to the arena. Gaara was already there standing with his arms across his chest.

"If both of you are ready, then you may begin," said Hayate.

"Here goes nothing…**Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu**." Everyone watched as the arena below was filled with a thick mist.

"Did Kakashi teach Sakura that jutsu?" Asuma asked Naruto.

"Yes, she asked him to teach it to her shortly after we came back from Wave country. Sakura was able to learn it rather quickly too," said Naruto.

"That's impressive," said Asuma.

Down in the arena Gaara didn't look impressed. He had his sand start spinning around him with such speed that it began to blow the mist away from him. Sakura ran out of the mist with a kunai in each hand, heading straight at him. Gaara didn't bother to try and stop her; when Sakura was close his sand reacted on its own and shot at her.

Naruto saw what happened next in slow motion: Gaara's sand impaled Sakura through the chest; a painfully surprised look spread across her face. "Sakuraaaaa!" Naruto was about to jump down when a large explosion went off in the arena.

When the explosion cleared everyone looked down to see a perfectly fine looking Sakura that didn't appear to have moved since the start of the match. On the other side Gaara had been blasted against the wall. His gourd had turned to sand to cushion the impact with the wall but there were visible cracks on his sand armor. Gaara looked pissed! As soon as he was off the wall he sent his sand at Sakura.

Sakura was ready for him. "**Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu**". Sakura shot several large water bullets from her mouth at the sand, stopping most of it from reaching her while dodged the rest.

Gaara now had a crazed look on his face as he used his sand to chase Sakura around the arena. He didn't notice a second Sakura coming at him from behind until it was almost too late. Lucky for Gaara his sand saved him by grabbing Sakura by the throat. Gaara turned to look at her.

"Your blood will please mother," he said. Sakura only smiled.

"I can't believe you fell for it again," said Sakura just before another explosion rocked the area. Gaara was sent bouncing across the arena floor. There was something different about the second explosion; when Gaara stood, he was covered in water. Most of his sand armor was falling off in wet lumps.

"Y-you h-hurt me, you actually caused me pain… I'LL KILL YOU!" Gaara roared as a massive wave of sand erupted from the ground and shot towards Sakura.

Sakura was breathing heavily, that Exploding-Water Clone had taken a lot out of her. She was once again cursing her younger body. Sakura had no choice but to draw chakra from the seals in her sweat-bands. When the sand was close to her, Sakura slammed her hands together and launched out a strong pulse of chakra that blasted Gaara's sand back. She tried to use this opportunity to put some distance between herself and the sand by jumping back towards the wall. However, as Sakura was in mid-jump a tendril of sand snaked around her ankle and slammed her on the ground with bone-jarring force.

'_Kami that hurt!'_ thought Sakura as she struggled to stand. She had just made it to her feet when a pillar of sand impacted heavily on the direct center of her chest and slammed her into the wall behind her. Sakura fell to the ground face-first; and while she was still conscious, she was clearly no longer able to fight.

"This match is over, Gaara is the winner!" said Hayate.

"This match isn't over until mother tastes blood!" Gaara raised his hand and his sand began to encase Sakura. It didn't get very far though as a powerful fist connected with the side of Gaara's face and sent him crashing against the opposite wall.

The room looked on in shock as a feral looking Naruto stood with his fist stretched-out while being surrounded by a red-colored aura. "**Touch her again… and I kill you**," he growled. Gaara, shakily getting to his feet, glared at the blond and it looked like he had every intention of continuing the fight until Baki appeared in front of him.

"That's enough Gaara," he said. Gaara glared at his teacher but left without further argument.

While this was going on Naruto had rushed to Sakura's side. "Are you ok Sakura?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine Naruto. I think I have a few bruised ribs but other that I'm fine. You don't need to…" Sakura was cut off by Naruto's lips slamming in to hers. Sakura was so caught by surprise that she didn't immediately kiss him back but once the surprise was gone she wrapped an arm around Naruto and returned the kiss. It wasn't until Sakura heard Hayate cough that she remembered where she was. They stopped kissing and both Sakura and Naruto looked around to see the completely shocked looks on everyone's faces.

"I knew something was going on with them!" said Kakashi who had arrived a few seconds ago. While Naruto looked embarrassed Sakura looked worried. She was especially worried when she looked at the remaining members of team 8. Sakura could see the fury on Kurenai's red eyes, they almost glowed with anger. Shino, while harder to read, had a visible frown on his face. Even through his dark shades, Sakura could feel his glare on her.

'_They looked pissed! They probably think I have been toying with Hinata's feels or something like that._' she thought. Sakura would have to worry about it later. After arguing with the medics and then Naruto that she didn't need to go to the medical wing, she and Naruto made it back to the contestant viewing area.

The next two matches went by very quickly. Choji faced Misumi Tsurugi and did better than most expected. Kabuto's teammate tried to use his ability to manipulate his joints on Choji but the Akimichi's ability to expand his body was able to overpower Misumi's jutsu.

The next match was between Ino and Shikamaru. As Sakura expected, Shikamaru was able to avoid Ino's mind jutsu and was able to trap Ino in his shadow possession jutsu. Ino was forced to forfeit rather than getting her head smashed against the wall as Shikamaru had done to Kin in the previous timeline.

"The final match is…"

**Shino Aburame VS Naruto Uzumaki**

"Finally it's my turn!" said Naruto

"Be careful Naruto. Shino is very good. He is smart and great with strategy. He can use his bugs with amazing control and is just as good without them. He is one of the strongest opponents here." said Sakura.

"Yeah ok, he also looks mad. Do you have any idea why? I don't think I have done anything."

"Just concentrate on the match for now, we'll worry about that later," said Sakura.

"I guess you're right." Said Naruto and made his way to the arena where Shino was waiting for him.

**XxX**

"Be careful with him Shino. Whether it was a fluke or not he was able to defeat a Jonin," said Kurenai.

"I will be careful sensei," said Shino.

**XxX**

"So… good luck Shino," said Naruto.

Shino stared at him before answering. "You have hurt my teammate's feelings. I normally do not let my emotions determine my actions, but for you I will make an exception. I will defeat you and it will not be painless," said Shino in a tone filled with anger. Shino's words confused Naruto but he didn't have time to think too much because Hayate started the match.

Shino immediately raised his hands and sent his bugs after Naruto. Naruto answered by creating a dozen shadow clones. The Naruto clones charged at Shino but his bugs quickly covered all of them and dispelled the lot of them. Naruto used the smoke as a cover and got close enough to land a sneak attack on Shino but when Naruto's fist connected with 'Shino' he dispersed into bugs that covered Naruto before he could do anything. As the bugs began to drain his chakra Naruto felt a sharp pain all over his body and fell to the ground.

"You were careless, now my bugs will drain you of all your chakra. I have made sure that they target the chakra points near your joints, it increases the amount of pain you will endure," said Shino in his usual monotone.

Naruto was in a lot of pain. But Naruto Uzumaki didn't give up so easily. "You'll have to do better than that buddy!" said Naruto as he stood up again.

"It's useless, you cannot escape my bugs," said Shino.

"well, I guess you don't know me very well do you?" Naruto then began to draw on every drop of chakra in his body. He began to glow in a blue aura. Shino's bugs tried to drain all of it but there was just too much chakra. Shino could not comprehend how this was happening. Naruto used this as an opening and closed in on Shino.

Sakura had been right, Shino was just as good in Taijutsu as anyone else. Naruto couldn't land a blow. Naruto was getting weaker by the second. Shino's bugs were no longer on him; having had their fill of his chakra. Naruto used the very last bit of his chakra to make two shadow clones and charged at Shino. Shino dispelled the clones with some shuriken but lost sight of Naruto for just a brief moment, but before he knew it, Naruto snuck up behind him and grabbed Shino from behind, locking his arms and making it impossible for Shino to get out of the hold.

"I got you!" said Naruto.

"So you have, but I fail to see what good it can do for you since you can't do me any harm with the hold you're using," said Shino.

"Why don't you listen carefully then, I'm sure you'll hear it," said Naruto. Shino did as Naruto said and listened. He soon picked of a familiar sound coming from the ground. What Shino saw when he looked was a kunai with an active explosion tag just next to his foot. "You didn't notice my clone throw that at the last minute because you were sure you had struck it with your shrunken. Now you can either forfeit or we can wait till it goes off in a few seconds, what do you say?" asked Naruto.

"You wouldn't, you'll be in the blast too."

"You'll be hurt more, you're closer!"

"Proctor, I forfeit the match," said Shino.

"Winner of the final match is Naruto Uzumaki!"

**XxX**

Ok so that's it for this chapter. Next chapter will have things get interesting for Sakura, and Naruto gets some training before we head to the finals.

For those waiting for my next Heir of Whirlpool, I'm almost done with it and will have it out as soon as I can.

As always, I would like to thank my friend **JS**,for the help with the spelling and grammar.

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara**


	18. Chapter 18

I don't own Naruto or anything else from any anime/manga, movie, show, book, or game.

"Talking"

"_Thinking"_

"**Bijju/summon**"

First of all I want to thank all of you who have been supporting my story. I know it's been a while since my last update. As some of you who have been exchanging pms with me already know, I have been going through a difficult time with my family. After fighting heart disease for the last few years, my father's heart couldn't handle the stress any further. My father past away in late August and as you can imagine it was a devastating emotional blow to me and my family. I took his passing especially hard, and I admit I didn't handle it very well. I spent weeks horribly depressed and isolated myself from everyone. My father was a major part of my life and losing was something that deeply affected me. It took my friends and family some time to get me out of the hole of depression I dug myself in. fortunately they were understanding and patient with me and helped me get passed this difficult part of my life. I am now back to my normal routine, going to work, hanging out with friends and family, and yes, working on my stories. I want to thank all of you who have been patient and supportive through my personal struggles.

Anyway, here is the next chapter of my story. Please let me know what you all think. I always take what my readers say seriously, and if it works for my story I will try to find a way to make it work. Alright enjoy the next chapter!

**Chapter 18**

Hinata sat quietly in her hospital room staring out the window. She was disappointed that she was not able to make it to the final round of the Chunin Exam. Neji had almost killed her in the process; however that wasn't the reason why she felt like someone had just stabbed her through her chest. The reason of her sadness was because of what she had learned happened after she left the arena.

_FLASHBACK_

Hinata was sitting in her hospital-room with Kiba, who had come to keep her company after he had his injuries treated, when Kurenai and Shino walked in the room. Hinata could immediately tell something was wrong by the look in her sensei's eyes. Kiba must have not noticed it.

"Hey, if you guys are here then the matches must be over, so who else passed Shino?" he asked as if it was obvious that Shino must have passed.

"Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Temari, Kankuro and Gaara from the Sand Village, Rock Lee, Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara… and Naruto Uzumaki all advanced to the third round of the Chunin Exam.

A smile blossomed on Hinata's face when she heard that Naruto had advanced to the next round. Hinata however could see something was bothering her sensei, she could see a look of anger that wasn't normal for Kurenai sensei. Hinata wanted to ask what was wrong but Kiba wasn't finished.

"What! Even Naruto passed? Oh man, now I feel even worse that I didn't pass. So who did Naruto fight? It had to be an easy opponent right?

Kurenai frowned at Kiba; it was this kind of attitude that gets him into trouble. "Kiba, Naruto fought Shino. Naruto BEAT Shino," said Kurenai.

Kiba was stunned, Hinata didn't know if she should still be happy for Naruto since she was disappointed for her teammate.

"B-but that's not possible! Shino is unbeatable! Akamaru and I can't even touch him when we spar. How did Naruto beat him?"

"I underestimated him. Naruto was more skilled and unpredictable than I originally gave him credit for. Perhaps I was blinded by my emotions and was unable to think logically during the match," said Shino in a monotone voice.

Neither Hinata nor Kiba were surprised to hear Shino describe Naruto as unpredictable. They both surprised to hear him say he was emotional; emotional was not how they would describe Shino Aburame; Before Kiba could comment on that Kurenai cut him off.

"Hinata… I'm afraid there is something I have to tell you…"

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Kurenai had told her what happened in the arena. Hinata felt heartbroken and betrayed. Hinata was not really surprised to hear that Naruto loved Sakura; he had always had feelings for her. Even if it hurt, Hinata knew it could happen one day. What was truly painful for her was that Sakura had been lying to her. In the last few months Sakura had become her closest friend and confidant. Sakura had encouraged her to train harder and helped Hinata become sure of herself. Sakura had made Hinata believe in herself.

But it had all been a lie. Sakura had been lying to her the entire time. Sakura knew how Hinata felt about Naruto; everyone knew how she felt about Naruto… except Naruto. Knowing that Sakura had still told Hinata she could find her happiness if she didn't give up and Hinata had believed her… she was such a fool! Hinata was brought out of her thoughts when she heard the door to her room open. Her eyes widen slightly before they narrowed into a furious glare when she saw who walked in. It was Sakura.

"What are YOU doing here? Have you come to have your laugh? To tell me what a fool you have been making out of me? You can save it. Get out!"

Sakura flinched at Hinata's harsh words. The anger and pain in her friend's words filled Sakura with sorrow; she never wanted to hurt Hinata. "We have to talk Hinata, and I'm not leaving until we do."

"I have nothing to say to you," said Hinata as she continued to glare at Sakura.

"Well, I have plenty to say to you." Hinata turned away from her. It hurt Sakura to see her like this.

"Why?" Hinata said in a whisper, she was still looking away from Sakura. "Why did you lie to me?

"I'm sorry; I just wanted to help…"

"To help?" asked Hinata as she turned to glare at Sakura again. "That's why you've been lying? That's why you told me that Naruto and you were only friends and teammates?"

"Actually, I never said we were ONLY friends and teammates, I just said we were close," answered Sakura.

Hinata couldn't stop the tears were spilling from her lavender colored eyes. "You knew how I felt for him, you knew that I… that I love him."

"Yes… I know that you love Naruto."

"Then why? Why did you make me think I had a chance to be with him? Why?" asked Hinata as she started to quietly sob.

Sakura couldn't bear to see her best friend in such pain, a pain she caused. Sakura closed her eyes, and as a single tear fell from right eye she answered Hinata in a whisper so low, that Hinata almost missed it.

"Because I needed you to, I needed you to know you could be happy with him."

Hinata didn't know if she had heard Sakura correctly. "What?" Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled before she answered Hinata.

"There is a storm coming; one that if we're not prepared for will rip our world apart. I am prepared to do whatever it takes to assure the survival of our people… even if I must give my life to do it."

Hinata didn't know what Sakura was talking about, but she could see the fierce determination in her eyes. Sakura meant every word she said. "What do you mean?"

"I mean a war Hinata. A war so brutal and devastating that will destroy everything we hold dear. A war I'm not sure I will survive. I know you love Naruto, and I know if there is someone that can make him happy if something happens to me, it you Hinata. I was being selfish; but it was only because I wanted both of you to have a chance if I don't survive."

"What war? What are you talking about Sakura?"

Sakura sighed. "Are you familiar with the **Memory Mirror Jutsu**?"

"What? What doe…"

"Are you familiar with it Hinata?!"

"Yes, it is a jutsu that was developed during the second Great Ninja War. It was developed specially to be used for ninja who were on trial for treason, insubordination, negligence or other forms of crimes against the village. The way the jutsu works, is that it enables the users to project their memories, however the way the chakra is used to gather the projection from the users mind make it impossible to bring forth false memories which is why they were used during trials."

"Good, then you know what I'm about to show you is the truth."

"The truth about what?" asked Hinata.

"The truth about our future, a future that WILL happen! If I can't find a way to change it. First I'm going to show you the memories of my first C-rank mission." Hinata was about to ask something but Sakura cut her off. "I know I already told you about it, and Naruto did too. Just watch and tell me if you notice something different from what you were told." Sakura went through a series of hand-sings…

**Memory Mirror Jutsu**

Hinata watched as an oval shaped mirror materialized in front of them. She didn't have to wait long as soon images appeared in the mirror. At first it was just as Sakura and Naruto had described their mission, at least until they encountered the two enemy ninja. That's when things started to go different from what she had been told. It was not Sakura and Naruto but Sasuke and Kakashi that stopped the Demon Brothers. Sakura's memories then changed to the battle with Zabuza and that too was different. It was Naruto and Sasuke that teamed up the save Kakashi. The final set of memories showed Zabuza and his apprentice being killed and later buried in simple graves. Hinata had been told that both had survived the battle and had been a loud to leave in peace, it didn't make any sense! When Sakura finally ended the jutsu, Hinata spoke to her.

"That is different from what you and Naruto told me, why would…"

"I know Hinata. This is the mission that we told you about, **Memory Mirror Jutsu**…"

Sakura's memories appeared once again only this time they were exactly as Sakura and Naruto had told her it had been. Hinata was more confused than ever!

"That's impossible! How can you have two different sets of true memories from the same event? It doesn't make any sense," said a confused Hinata.

Sakura told Hinata, she told Hinata everything that happened in the future. More importantly Sakura showed Hinata what happened in the future. Hinata saw what happened during the finals of the Chunnin Exams. She saw as they buried the Third Hokage and how Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage. Sakura showed her team's battles against the Akatsuki and told Hinata about Naruto being the host of the Nine Tailed Fox. As Sakura had guessed, Hinata didn't care about that; Hinata's feelings for Naruto were as strong as her own. Later Sakura showed the first war against Akatsuki, the undead-shinobi and clone-army. Hinata saw as the alliance army won the battle thanks to Naruto and Killer-bee joining forces to turn the tide. Unfortunately Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha managed to escape. The memory that followed made Hinata heart swell with joy as she watched the village celebrate the naming of the Sixth Hokage; tears of happiness fell from Hinata's face as she saw Naruto accomplish his dream.

The next memory brought a pain to Hinata's heart. It was the memory of Sakura's wedding… her wedding to Naruto! Hinata watched as Sakura was happy with Naruto, and later gave birth to a beautiful baby girl; a girl with bright red hair and Sakura's emerald eyes. They named her after Naruto's mother. That was the last happy memory as the next one was of the Leaf Village preparing for war. Hinata watched as once again the Great Ninja Villages united to fight an army led by Madara Uchiha and Sasuke Uchiha. This time the battle seemed to be in favor of the alliance. The Uchiha's army was made up of rouge ninja and mercenaries that were no match for the Ninja Alliance. That was until Madara unleashed the captured Bijju. Without their containers and under the ancient Uchiha's control the tailed-beasts wreaked havoc on the Alliance army. Things went from bad to worse as Hinata watched the next memory play out.

_An older Sakura walked into the alliance command tent to look for her husband. Naruto was standing with the leaders of the other villages trying to come up with a strategy to deal with the tailed-beast. Sakura was the bearer of bad news._

"_Naruto."_

_Everyone in e room turned to look at her. "What wrong Sakura?"_

"_I have some bad news; Killer-bee has been captured by Madara. The left flack had been severely weakened and we are not sure how long it will take before they have the 8-tails on their side."_

_This news sends worried whispers throughout the room. Naruto looked calm and determent. "It looks like we need a change of plans. We will order the retreat of the main army. Myself and100 other will remain as a rear guard to allow the rest of you time to retreat to the fall back position where we will have a better chance to defend against the Uchiha's forces."_

"_I'm staying with you…"_

"_NO! You will lead the Leaf forces in my stead."_

"_But…"_

"_But nothing Sakura, you will do as I say even if I have order you to do it as your Hokage." Sakura knew from the look on his face that Naruto wasn't going to budge so she agreed to his plans. Once the meeting was over and everyone else had left to prepare only Naruto and Sakura remained in Naruto's tent. "You should go and prepare for tomorrow Sakura."_

"_If you think that I'm going to spend this night with anyone but my husband that I'm afraid you're mistaken Hokage-Sama."_

"_I'm sorry about that. But I need to make sure your safe Sakura."_

_Sakura wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders and they held each other. "Promise me you will come home to your family."_

"_I promise that I will make sure all of you are safe," he answered._

"_That's not what I asked."_

"_I know but that's the only promise I can make to you," he said. He then pressed his lips to hers, and Sakura spend one last night in her husband's arms._

_The following day Sakura helped lead the alliance army. It was as the army marched that they all felt a massive release of chakra that was followed a great explosion the power of the explosion was so great that the very ground they walked on shook causing many of them to fall. Everyone turned to see a giant mushroom cloud rise from where the battlefield would be. Sakura felt her heart sink, something inside her told her that the Mushroom cloud meant something horrible had happened._

"_Konohamaru, I'm putting you in charge of the Leaf ninja."_

"_What? Why?" he asked._

"_I'm going back. I need to make sure Naruto is ok." Several people tried to stop her but Sakura didn't budge. She led an ANBU team back to the battle field and the sight that awaited them left them all in shock. The plain that had been their battlefield was completely destroyed. There was nothing left but a massive crater. The earth was scorched and the smell of burning flesh still filled the air. What worried Sakura was there was no sign of life anywhere, nothing! Sakura ordered the ANBU team to search the area while she made her way to the center of the crater. As Sakura grew near the center, she saw a lone figure lying on the ground; a figure wearing the tattered remains of Hokage robes._

'_No! Dear Kami, please no!' thought Sakura as she raced to her husband's side. She dropped to her knees and immediately started using advanced medical Ninjutsu on Naruto. After only seconds she saw Naruto open his eyes._

"_S-Sakura."_

"_Don't talk Naruto, safe your strength. I'm going to make you good as new." Even as Sakura said this she could feel his life slipping away which only made her try even harder._

"_We b-both know t-hat I don't have m-much time. The only r-reason I'm still a-alive right now is b-because of the F-Fox."_

_A sob escaped Sakura's lips as tears ran down her face. She couldn't help but think that this is what Tsunade must have felt when she lost Dan._

"_I-I killed Sasuke. The Tailed B-Beasts are gone forever. I-I'm only sorry that I w-won't get to see Kushina grow up. T-Tell her that I l-love her very much, and t-that I'm so p-proud of her._

_Sakura could see that his eyes were no longer focused, they where no longer the brilliant cerulean blue she loved. They were growing dim and it looked as if Naruto was staring off into the distance. Sakura hugged Naruto's body towards her as she could feel his heart was going agonizingly slow, it would be long now before it stopped._

"_S-Sakura, I-I love y-you so m-much."_

"_I love to Naruto," she whispered to him._

_Naruto smiled, even as his life was ending he was happy to at least be with the love of his life in the end. Naruto saw through his blurred vision that Sakura spoke to him. But he could no longer hear her, he could fell the darkness enclosing him. He only hoped that he had done enough to protect the ones he loved._

_Moments later, Naruto Namikaze Sixth Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leafs, died in his wife's arms._

When Sakura finished the jutsu Hinata was sobbing and Sakura herself had tears running down her face. It was difficult having to remember one of the most painful events in your life. Her last night with Naruto would give Sakura her son Minato, which she named after Naruto's father.

"I need to stop this from happening Hinata. But it's not just so I can save the man I love. It's because if I can't save Naruto, our whole world is doomed.

"W-what do y-you mean?" asked Hinata between sobs.

"Naruto killed Sasuke in that final battle. And he even injured Madara greatly. But in the last moment Madara escaped. He returned a year later with an army from the southern continent where he had been amassing his power since we where children. He knew there was always a chance his Moon's Eye plan would fail. So he always had a contingency plan.

"What happened?"asked Hinata.

"His army attacked. The ninja villages had fought two major wars and had been weaken to a critical point. We were not prepared to defend against such a large force. We fought with everything we had. But with every land he conquered, his army grew while our allies became fewer and fewer. It took Madara nearly 10 years but in the end there was no way to stop him. I believe that the only way to save our future is to end him before he can weaken the villages like he did. We have to keep him from capturing the Tailed Beasts at all cost, I intent to do that, even if I have to take Naruto's place to get rid of them for good."

"What? But how can you do that?" asked Hinata.

"I spend much of my time going through Naruto's research. Believe me when I tell you that when it comes to seals, Naruto is a genius like none other you have ever heard of. He found a way to modify the seal used to seal the Nine Tails inside of him. This new version of the Reaper Death Seal allowed him to seal the other tailed beast inside of him. Only unlike what Madara wanted to do, this seal did not unite the tailed beast. No instead it used them as fuel for a powerful jutsu that Naruto used to wipe out the Uchiha's army. I don't intent to let it get that far this time. I plan on stopping Madara and Akatsuki before they can start the Fourth Great Ninja War. If I can't stop them, then I will use Naruto's seal to destroy the Tailed Beasts, I will give my own life instead.

"Sakura…"

"I want him to be happy, and I know you are the only other person that can love him like I do. I also want to help you, Hinata. I don't want you to be as cold and uncaring as you became in the future."

"What do you mean?"

"When Naruto died, it was like a part of you died too. I was too busy dealing with my own grief to notice. You also were very good at hiding your true feelings. My children and I were just about the only people that you showed any emotions to, aside from Neji before he died."

Hinata flinched when she heard her cousin's name and that he died sometime in the future.

"You became one of the strongest ninja the Hidden Leaf Village ever produced. Certainly the most powerful ninja that the Hyuuga Clan ever produced, but it came at a steep price. That price was your humanity. With anyone other than my family it was like you had died inside, you were cold, calculating, and merciless. You were so ruthless in battle that the enemy called you the Hyuuga's Goddess of Death."

Hinata stared at Sakura in disbelieve. She couldn't imagine herself as Sakura described her future self. Sakura could tell that Hinata had many confidence issues. She needed Hinata to see what would become of her if the future was not changed.

**Memory Mirror Jutsu**

_Hinata watched as another memory played out. The setting was a clearing, the sings of battle where clear. An older Sakura was leading a medical team to teat injured Leaf ninja while a few other covered them from enemy attacks. As Sakura and her team worked to save the lives of the injured ninja her guards were ambushed and over whelmed by dozens of Madara's warriors. As Sakura prepared to act as guard to give her team time to escape with the injured a single figure stepped out of the woods behind her and walked towards the enemy._

_Hinata gasped as she saw a woman dressed in traditional Hyuuga robed walked past Sakura with an eerie calm. The woman was absolutely beautiful. She had long flowing blue hair, flawless ivory skin, and a figure that would make any woman burn with envy. But even with all this, the woman frightened Hinata. The woman's beautiful face was devoid of all emotions, as if it was carved of stone; a true Hyuuga if Hinata had ever seen one._

_The enemy was frightened too. Many hesitated, as if to consider if running was a viable option. In the end, they still attacked… and died._

_Hinata was mesmerized as she watched this woman, a woman that would be her in the future completely decimated the enemy. They attacked her from all sides but it was useless. Hinata saw her future self move with speed and grace like nothing she thought possible. Her hands glowed with power, and moved like lightning. Every strike was on target, every strike was fatal. Hinata watched herself deal death to enemy without hesitation, without restraint. Her future self was brutal and she dodged, ducked, and weaved through the attacks. She moved like a dancer round her attackers, and she was dancing a dance of death._

_The fight if you could call it a fight was over in minutes. Hinata watched as her future self stood in the middle of the clearing with the bodies of dozens littering the floor. Her future self simply stepped over the dead as if it was nothing and continued further into the battle field without a word or even a glimpse of emotions in her face._

As Sakura canceled her jutsu, Hinata couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine. The power and skill that her future self displayed was truly incredible. But the ruthless and brutal personality frightened Hinata to her core. Was that her future? To become a cold-blooded killer with no emotions, no mercy, to become what her father had always desired in an heir.

Sakura could see the internal conflict in her friend's eyes. She knew Hinata would react strongly to the memory she had shown her. Sakura needed to calm her friend's fears of the future.

"Hinata, I know that what you saw concerns you."

"I became a killer Sakura!"

"We are ninja Hinata, we are ALL killers. I am a medic. It's my job to save lives, but I can tell you that I have killed hundreds if not thousands of men and women. And I would kill thousands more if it meant my loved ones will be safe. It's not our actions alone that determines who we are, it also our intentions Hinata."

"That's not who I want to become Sakura."

"Then don't. Become the person you want to be, it's your choice. The experiences that made you into that person have not happened. The biggest factors were Naruto's death and your clan's betrayal."

"My clan's betrayal? What are you talking about?"

"Shortly after Naruto's death your clan elders tried to take advantage of your grief to get rid of you. By then you had become extremely popular within your clan. Your father wanted to make sure that Hanabi became clan head. But you had become a powerful Jonin during the war while Hanabi had been kept in the home guard by your father's request. Hiashi knew that during a match, you would defeat your sister. So he and the elders tried to get rid of you another way."

"What happened?" asked Hinata.

"They tried to force you into an arranged marriage to a foreign noble. It backfired for them. I don't know the details because you never liked to talk about it. What I do know is that in the end of that meeting, you attacked and killed all five elders and forced your father to step down as head of the clan."

Hinata looked horrified at what Sakura told her, Hinata could never believe that she would be driven to harm members of her family let alone take their lives.

"The first thing you did was abolish the use of the Cage Bird Seal. Under your leader ship the Hyuuga Clan became a true family. Even if you isolated yourself from that family, you did what you had always dreamed about. You made Naruto's promise a reality, you changed the ways of the Hyuuga Clan."

Hinata's mind was again in turmoil. On one hand she had succeed in her lifelong dream of uniting her family. On the other hand, it caused her to lose took her killing members of her family. Hinata wanted more than anything to help her family come together, but she didn't know if she could do it knowing the cost.

"I will help you become the powerful ninja you can become Hinata. Together Naruto and you will change your clan, hopefully without the need to harm members of your family. But remember Hinata, sometimes blood must be spilled to gain freedom. Or the bonds of slavery can never be broken".

Hinata nodded. She would do her best to help her clan, she would do everything in her power to do so peacefully; but she would be ready to do what's necessary when the time came. She only hoped that she was never forced to make that choice.

Sakura and Hinata spend hours talking. It was a huge weight off Sakura's shoulders having someone to talk to. Now she had someone she trusted to tell her worries, and someone to have the information of the future should something happen to her. Only time would tell if she had made the right choice, but Sakura believed she had definitely made the right decision.

**XxX**

So there you have it, so what do you all think? Sakura finally told someone that she is from the future and Hinata will finally start to have a bigger part in the story. But what will happen next? The third part of the exam and the invasion are coming and they have to be ready for it.

Please read and review to let me know what all of you think.

As always I would like to thank my friend **JS **for the help with the spelling and grammar.

**Lord Rahl Master of D'Hara** _inata of her_


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